Cobblers

Cobblers seem to fall in to two categories these days.

There are the ‘cubicle’-based folk who will nail a new heel on, cut you a spare key and flog you a pipe in the blink of an eye.

And then there are the old fashioned craftsmen-type folk who will examine a piece of leatherwork (whether it’s a shoe, boot or even not necessarily a piece of footwear).

The former are great if you want a heel nailed on, key cut and/or pipe… but ask them to do a bit of real stitching and…

Yeah, you’ve guessed it.

Fortunately there are also the other kind.

The old fashioned craftsmen-type folk who will look at what you’ve brought in, analyse the problem, tell you how they’re going to repair it (which usually goes something like this: unpick all the stitching around there, there and there, put a piece of leather in between to strengthen the area, glue it in place and when the glue’s dry, stitch it all together again).

There’s not many of these around – the old fashioned craftsmen.

There’s one I know of just outside Altrincham, Cheshire.

Which is a bit of a way to go when one needs the stitching around the heel of a pair of boots redone.

But last week I found an old fashioned cobbler in Swindon.

He looked at my beautiful, made-to-measure, full-length leather riding boots, analysed the problem (as above) and said I could pick them up at the end of the week.

Three working days.

I asked how much he reckoned I should bring with me.

About £6, he said.

I returned last Friday.

“They didn’t take quite as long as I thought,” he said.

In answer to my question of how much I owed him, he thought about it for a moment and then said “Call it £4.50?”

I gave him £20 and told him to keep the change.

Do you know how much it would cost to replace a pair of made-to-measure, full-length, leather riding boots these days?

And mine have been rendered serviceable by a £4.50 fix?

The man undercharges!

I wore the boots on Saturday, Sunday and yesterday.

The heels, where the zip had become detached on the left and was becoming detached on the right were perfect, secure and comfortable.

So, ladies and gentlemen (he said, making sure enough keywords get in this post for google to pick up)…

If you need an old fashioned cobbler (or shoe repairer or boot repairer) who does stitching by hand, as well as other types of leatherwork, please call Fashion Shoe Repairs of Swindon on 01793 520 583.

OK, I know some might say this is an advert of sorts but I say it’s a recommendation of services rendered. Besides, he’s a really nice guy and you just can’t argue with his prices or the quality of his work.

B.