These boots were made for walking...once!
- 11 December 2010 10:5284062Ah we all have our favourite things dont we...here are mine, but not for much longer..in fact they have been pronounced dead at the scene.
I have been attached, in more ways than one, to these boots for 20 years. They were of the simple high street variety, so nothing special there, but from a time when shoes were made right here in the UK in Leicester ( why Leicester - gawd knows??).
Recently while I made my way through the urban wasteland of the one time DTIZ St James's area, where people go at their own risk as long time exposure to the surroundings can lead to depression, the heel and soul became seperated from the upper.
I went hot foot at that point to the shoe doctor at Timpsons...who shook his head gloomily, while doing that sharp intake of breath thing. Yes you've guessed it..it was terminal. I can fix them for you now said the nice man in charge, but they wont last much longer... Im sure I heard the funeral march playing in the distance.
So with tears in eyes I parted with hard cash, wasnt sure if I was crying over the loss of boots or the loss of cash, and went about my business. But in no time at all as predicted the same thing happened. The boots died. It was all over.
As artist of legend Vincent van Gogh painted his similar boots for posterity, Im doing the same thing here, capturing the things for posterity. Note the strategically placed paint brushes.
anyone else got a favourite thing..would be interested to hear about it. If not well just let these boots pass on in peace.email: dover7@msn.com - 11 December 2010 11:4784063paul
leicester was the headquarters of the british shoe corporation.
you may remember the high street shops of dolcis, tru form, freeman, hardy and willis, barratts, lilley and skinner and others i gave forgotten, they were all owned by the british shoe corporation.
i think some shoes are still made over here, samuel winsor and loake spring to mind. - 11 December 2010 12:5684065I recently took a pair of Navy shoes to be repaired .The chap took one look not worth the repair .I had them for over ten years .It has taken a lot of searching to replace them .Navy is not an in colour .I did buy some on line .
- 11 December 2010 15:1684071Ah gosh yes I remember all those old high street names. I got 20 years out of my british boots bought in one of those bog standard stores but I suspect that wouldnt happen any more. You wouldnt get 20 years out of boots anymore. Not unless you buy expensive ones and even then I dunno. Things are made to be disposable now, the idea being it keeps people in work. But not in work here in the UK anymore but somewhere in the sweatshops of the far east.
Sue have you noticed that to get shoes repaired now is much more expensive than it used to be. Thats why the guy said your navy ones were a write-off. Cost more to repair than buy new ones.
email: dover7@msn.com - 11 December 2010 15:4384079i only repair hand made ones, pointless getting a standard pair of shoes repaired.
last time i sent a pair to be soled and heeled they wanted 22 quid. - Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,894
11 December 2010 19:0284108Paul, if you have not already sent them to shoe heaven why not plant them up and put them in the garden somewhere. You can still look at them and mourn their loss.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 11 December 2010 19:1584111I recognise those boots Paul,or they are similar to the ones Noah had on the Ark,well about the same time period!
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble! - Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
11 December 2010 23:4584162I have a pair of Doctor Martens on my feet at the moment (1460 8 eyelet) that are over 10 years old and still going strong - to be honest I buy and wear little or nothing else.
It is also worth noting that Dr Martens now do make some of their boots in the UK again at their factory in Northampton, having at one time moved all production to Hungary"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi - 12 December 2010 07:3384172Ah Jan living high up in that concrete monolith known as the gateway one has no garden to bury the things in..eventually I will have to just drop them down the chute, only when I steel myself up to parting with them of course.
Lol!!
re Noahs Ark John...yes they were all the rage at the time of Noahs Ark as indeed I was myself!! seems like only yesterday.
Yes thats good going too Ross..ten years old. You might be uploading a picture one of these days. Good to hear they are making them again in Northampton but they probably cost more as a result.email: dover7@msn.com - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
12 December 2010 08:3584174paulb,going along with jans idea of buring them,you could get a large tub for your balcony,fill tub with compost put boots in and partly bury and plant with daffodill and tulip bulbs for spring.
- Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,894
12 December 2010 09:2984181Paul, I completely forgot you live there, the answer is to put a house plant in each one and put them in a window or plant them with some daffodils and put them on the balcony. I was not suggesting you treated them so unkindly as to bury them just yet, as Brian suggests, they can still be admired and loved.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 12 December 2010 10:1284188PaulB, my sympathies for your loss. I recognise those pangs: I had a pair of trousers, my favourite pair, an old pair that had belonged to my Dad, taken up and belted to fit. They felt like sitting in clouds, light, baggy, gossamer casings for the legs with huge pockets, that allowed me the movement to paint pictures, paint walls, dig the garden, play the banjo, bake bread, walk the dog, clean the kitchen. They were stained and grubby, daubed with all the reminders of the pleasures of hobbies and family life, cotton coverings for a blissful life. They ripped, I mended; they tore, I repaired. One day - it pains me to say this - the zip wrenched itself from the trouser. I wrestled with it, used different needles, different thread. No good. Gone forever. It took me weeks to throw them away, as if I thought they might regenerate themselves if I waited long enough.
I still miss them...............
Plant you boots, Paul - spray paint them and stencuil them abd get a few bulbs in them. they will keep you company like a trouser never could!!!! - 12 December 2010 17:3284228Bern - you could always have cut up the trousers (as you can any clothes you are sentimentally attached to) and make into a rag rug, like one I made recently.
That way you can use it for another 20 years or so .... they would then be regenerated...
This was made entirely from old clothes etc.
---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 12 December 2010 17:5184238Kath, I have wanted to get "into" rag rugs for years and have never got round to it - I knit, sew and crochet but haven't ventured any further. It seems a great "green" way to use up stuff that is past its best. Are there any books I can borrow from the library that would set me off?!
- 12 December 2010 17:5284239PaulB, I am an expert at repairing shoes and boots that are repairable. If your bemoaned boots have no holes in the soles, but have only come apart as you described, then they can be repaired, using super-glue. The pound-shop in Market Square sell, a kit for £1.30, containing three little flasks of the stuff, and that should be sufficient to repair a pair of boots. I can assure you that super-stick glue is the best product one can use for shoe-repairs, apart from worn-down soles.Chanters, Drums and Drones Potty Time http://youtu.be/99fMqpjnXYA
Rule Britannia!
Kent First http://youtu.be/04F3mAP3fV4 Keep banging on http://youtu.be/qYCU_SKmkGQ - 13 December 2010 12:1284331Gawd! I remember when you bought those boots PaulB, Halcyon Days
I think you should take the forumites advice above and plant them up on the balcony, maybe in a 'Narrowboat Style' with a watering can placed beside them painted Black Hammerite with gay flowers (Young Man!) to match. Very Bijou - 13 December 2010 16:2484386Must say I wear 95% the same shoes when out doing leaflets ,I have walked 100s of miles over the ten years I have been doing it ,the shoes I wear are Pavers Handmade,they are the best shoes I have ever had, but they are on the wayout now but will last out till the locals nextyear.
- 13 December 2010 18:5384420Thats where my shirts have gone Kath 2 of them were only 30 years old!!!!If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
- 13 December 2010 18:5484421Bern - making a rag rug is fairly quick. You can make them on sacking,or hessian, or just as easily on rug canvas, the sort you use for readicut rug types.
There are various tools can be used. If you look at the websites below, I use the tool marked :D:, called a Bodger. Can sometimes find old ones, or buy new from her.
Have a look at the following websites, Jenni Stuart-Anderson is a well known promoter of rag rug making and has written books, she usually has displays at the Stitching and Knitting Show, and Quilt shows, etc.
I will be pleased to show you how to make a rag rug in the new year, if you wish, contact me after Christmas.
websites:
http://www.jenni.ragrugs.freeuk.com/
http://www.wgdc.org.uk/designers/textiles/jenni-stuart-anderson.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rag-Rug-Making-Jenni-Stuart-Anderson/dp/1900371537---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred - 13 December 2010 18:5584423JHG - your shirts sound like my husbands if 30 years old !!---------------------------------------------------
Lincolnshire Born and Bred
