The Traditional Art Of The Shoe Repairer

The Traditional Art Of The Shoe Repairer

The Traditional Art Of The Shoe Repairer

For previous generations, the sight of a shoe repair shop was an integral part of the high street in the United Kingdom. Once as vital as the grocers, the bakers and the butchers, you'd find a shoe repairers, also known as a cobblers in practically every town in the UK. However, with mass production techniques and the global economy we are now living in, is there still a need for this trade? Shoe repairers, or cobblers as they are often known often offer additional services in addition to the repair of shoes. Most commonly, you'll find a shoe repairers providing key cutting services from the same premises. Other services include dry cleaning, engraving and the replacement or repair of watch straps. Surveys vary but report that there are between 3,000 and 6,000 shoe repairers currently in the United Kingdom. Several large supermarkets are now providing an in-store shoe repair service, in addition to those running their own businesses, or being employed as part of a large chain. The main duties of a shoe mender include the replacement and repair of heels, staining and dyeing of leather, cleaning and polishing, and the fixing of zips, buckles and straps. While it may not be cost-effective to mend many of the cheaper footwear being sold today, sending shoes for repair, instead of replacing them makes good economical and environmental sense, particularly where higher-end shoes are concerned. A good shoe mender can restore a pair of shoes back to an almost-new condition and prolong their lives by numerous years. Certainly, in our ancestors times, it wouldn't be considered to throw away a pair of shoes just because the heel had worn out. In this case, the shoes would always be taken to the cobblers. Becoming a shoe repairer requires no academic qualifications from school, but specialist training is often provided on the job, under the supervision of an experienced teacher, and there are recognised industry qualifications and NVQ/QCF qualification. The saying 'a load of cobblers' is often used in the United Kingdom to describe something that is either not true, or 'a load of rubbish'. The origin of this comes from Cockney Rhyming Slang and is nothing to do with the shoe repairer himself, but instead of one of his tools; the awl, used for piercing holes in leather. The phrase originates from 'a load of cobblers awls', which is rhyming slang for balls, or testicles. One of the first uses of the phrase in print was in the UK music magazine, "Melody Maker", when in October 1968, one of their reporters described a comment on a club in Glasgow as a 'load of cobblers' Although shoes have become a throwaway product for many people, there are still those who often use the services of their local shoe repairer, so this is a trade that has the potential to continue for many years.

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