Proper leather shoes

Crocket & Jones should be on the list. One of the better Northampton shoe makers. They used to have a factory shop where you could pick up bargains. The ruse in the old days was that if you knew someone who worked in the factory, which was nearly everyone in Northampton, then you'd get them to deliberately soil a pair of shoes you wanted and go and get them from the factory shops as 'seconds' at the weekend.

For those that don't know, Trickers is the factory used in the film Kinky Boots. My grandfather who worked in the leather industry in Northampton and he felt they were one of the best. If you had your own lasts they would make a pair of shoes for you but I doubt they still do this.

This made me smile. I went to school in east northants which had an AirWair factory in every village. Every kid in the school walked round in £10 factory second DMs.

Sadly just offices left now...all shipped out to China....I remember when it was all just fields....