General Chat

...and I mean proper cobblers, not key-cutters who cobble.

A dying breed.
I have some wonderful boots, very comfortable, lovely leather etc, but, where I wear them so much, they needed re-heeling. I bought the boots in a sale, but their original price was £90.
Problem is, they're sole/heel in one.
Took them to the local cobblers - yes he could fix them, ready next day. Cost? £12.95.
Not bad for another years worth out of a much loved pair of boots.

On the strength of this, I took an old handbag to him. It's a simple bag, a bit like a small leather sack with a handle. I'd attempted to sew the flat part of the handle back, but when the handle started coming away from the bag, I could do nothing. But I love it. It's also Italian. I got it second hand, from someone with too much money (replaced her wardrobe every year) but I know it would cost about £200 if I could find a replacement!
Yes, he could sew the handle back on - ready in half an hour. Cost? £3 :-D

Not only had he sewn the handle back on, he'd stitched the other side, and along the top of the handle that I'd tried to mend.
Last night I dubbed it. This morning I wiped the dubbing off - it looks lovely. Nothing better than well-worn soft leather :-D :-D

I too love worn leather. Bought a pair of leather knee boots in 1992 (they were about £100) and wore them for years and years. Had them re-soled once and re-heeled several times. They might still be lurking upstairs somewhere!

My great-uncle was a 'cobbler' and I used to love going to his shop - fantastic smell :-D Some of his equipment is now in the local museum (Gloucester).

my lovely Dad used to repair all the shoes in our house - remember going to a shop with him to buy sheets of leather - he had a last with three different sized feet on it and used to do the repairs sitting on the kitchen floor - he also used to put those stick on soles on our shoes as well

We used to have a last with different size feet (possibly three) at home Ann, but I only ever saw it used as a door stop :-0

My dad used to (occasionally) mend our shoes too.
We also had a last :-D

Have to (shamefully) admit to not visiting a cobbler for years, after a much-loved pair of shoes was re-soled, and they split the very soft leather uppers!!!

My daughter wore her tiny shoes out when she was two,
as she got around on a sit-and-ride trike while her hip
was immobilised to correct a congenital defect.
The local cobbler must have spent hours
lovingly restoring those shoes
and only charged me the standard sole & heel price.
Diamond. Long retired now and probably long gone.

There is still a decent cobbler near us,
but he opens fewer hours now and
is not going to pass the business onto anyone
when he does eventually retire.

I have a last here. Strangely I was looking at it just a couple of days ago and wondered whether the youngsters at the local primary school would know what it is. It came from a charity shop a few years ago when I had a fit of nostalgia remembering Dad trying to get a bit more wear out of our shoes when we were young. Not sure what happened to that last.
As a child I lived in an 'unadopted' road which wore out many shoes before the council took it on and tarmac took the place of huge gullies and rough flints. We had a wonderful cobbler who collected or delivered shoes on Tuesdays and Saturdays and most weeks there was a pair which needed repairing for someone in the family.
Now we have a cobbler in town, who is very able and he too has made a tatty handbag into a useful item. Shoe repairs are carried out quickly, - very helpful for someone like me who hates having to search for new shoes which are also comfortable.

Gwyn

I have my Dad's last, he was always good at fixing my shoes and boots and mended our shoes when we were little. I am hard on heels and he even put blakeys in some of my shoes when I was younger as I was such a rip.


We have a cobbler on the outskirts of the city who is good - he had worked in a shoe factory and when it closed down, got himself a little shop, it's a tip, and I never know how he finds things but he does a good job. I haven't been to him for ages as it's harder to park there now but I think he is still going. We have a market stall where they do a good job, I took some boots and suggested having them soled as well as reheeled and they told me the soles were fine for another winter and didn't need doing, even tho it did them out of work. They were much cheaper than the Timpson's repair shop in the city centre but it is very handy and the lads there will do a quick stitching job or whatever for a donation into the charity box.

I hate to see down at heel shoes and boots but these days youngsters don't seem to bother, they just throw away the items and buy new or have these scruffy trainers on all the time. Sad really, a nicely shined pair of shoes makes such a good impression.

It was drilled into me by my late Dad, must have been his army training lol


Lizx

We have a good cobbler near us who does a good job.

I was worried for a time because Sam only took over the business about 3 years ago ........... and the previous guy had done wonders for us at various times. But this younger guy seems just as willing.


One thing to remember is that a lot of shoes are now made that are almost impossible to re-sole ............ somehow the sole is an integral part of the shoe.

I took a pair like that into Boris, the "old" cobbler, just before he retired, and said "I just don't see how you can re-sole these, but they are so comfortable"!

They were just lace-up walking shoes, not fancy designer ones

He looked at them and, said "they are made deliberately like that so people will continually buy new shoes. But I can do it"

he had to shave off the old sole before he could resole and re-heel.

I was only wanting stick on soles Sylvia, but they told me not to bother yet

I have had shoes where they crack apart at the part near the heel, they are the all in one style sole and heel and were useless.

Lizx

There was a great cobbler near when I used to work (thirty years ago!).

All I can find these days is the stalls in shopping malls.......... keys cut, new heels while you wait etc etc. I can't even find one (a real one) in the 'phone book.

:-(