Bolton's cobblers on how they are still very much in demand

This includes Bolton cobblers. Joe Yates reports.

Since 1990, Cobblers, in Horwich, has patched, stitched and re-soled thousands of shoes, but as online shopping and fast fashion, becomes -well the fashion, the family-run business has had to adjust.

These days shoes can be bought online and delivered to your house the same day for as little as £5, but with the shoe repair shop now in its third generation, The Bolton News visited the store, on Winter Hey Lane, to find out its secrets ­— and whether trends are changing.

Scott Laidlaw, of Cobblers, told The Bolton News the younger generation do bring in their trainers for repair.

“I’ve actually been doing well,” owner Scott Laidlaw, “I’m actually finding a lot more younger people come in with high end shoes like Christian Louboutin – they can pay upwards of £500 for them so they bring them in and want them fixing.

“Younger generations wear expensive trainers so I’ve recently bought a trainer cleaner which gets them looking brand new again.”

The 46-year-old, who has been repairing shoes since he was 16, imported a shoe cleaning machine from Italy this summer as a bid to take on more footwear from children and young adults.

Jean Bird bought her heels six years ago and after a resole they look as good as new

Scott, of Over Hulton, continued: “With the cost-of-living crisis going up, the people struggling would rather repair than throw away – if it’s cost effective to get shoes repaired.

“What I’ve done differently is I’ve bought the best machinery, more machinery, and I’m more experienced than the majority of cobblers working for a chain.

“I also offer little things like giving people the option to change the colour of their soles – I’m only one of 13 shops in the country that do this.”

Stephen Haslam

According to Scott, Cobblers has not seen a drop off in customers in the last 10 years which bucks the trend set in the town centre where only one shoe repair shop remains – down from four in the last decade.

In the half an hour that The Bolton News was at Cobblers six customers came in, one of them was 59-year-old Mark Pimblett, who came in to pick up his watch.

“I’ve used him for years, since when his mum and step-dad were here, they fix loads of things belts, watch straps, keys, shoes.

“My wife gets her shoes re-heeled here, it’s just convenient and he’s a lot cheaper than everywhere else.”

Martin Greaves

While, Martin Greaves, of Horwich, added: “I always come here, mainly for shoe stitching’s – it’s for my wife’s shoes this time. I’ve been coming here 20 odd years now.

“We have them repaired when they are worn out but I think a lot of people do just throw them away these days.”

Rossendale couple, Lynne and Steven Smith, aged 66 and 69 respectively, told The Bolton News that it is “cheaper to bin” shoes rather than fix them, while on a visit to Bolton.

Steven ahd Lynne Smith

“There’s a cobbler where we live and we don’t use him,” Steven said.

“I wouldn’t repair them, it’s cheaper to bin them because it will cost about £15 to £20 to fix them.”

Lynne added: “It’s only recently though, because you can buy them for cheaper. At one time we would get them repaired.”

Cobblers, like many other shoe repair shops, cuts keys, fixes belts and watch straps, and alters clothing and even does dry cleaning.

Sixty-five-year-old Geraldine Ford, of Horwich, visited Cobblers for a dress alteration.

She said: “I always repair my shoes instead of throwing them out and I’ve got lots of shoes. I bring stuff here for my children all the time too – suits, quilts, and dry cleaning too.”

As well as Geraldine, Jayne Whiteley, 55, also of Horwich, stopped in to get a pair of keys cut but had the sole of her partner’s Doc Martens repaired recently.

When asked whether her children visit a cobbler, she replied: “Would they get their shoes repaired? I don’t know, it’s hard to say as my sons wear trainers, but my daughter would.”

Dropping in to repair his wife’s 'funeral shoes' Stephen Watkinson, a mobile care worker who lives in Blackrod and has been visiting Cobblers since it opened, added: “It’s a disposable society but I don’t believe in that, if they can be repaired, repair them.”

Meanwhile, at Timpson, on Market Street, the last remaining cobbler in Bolton town centre, one punter explained the importance of the shoe repair industry.

Retired school cleaner Jean Bird, of Bromley Cross, brings her shoes and her husband’s to Timpson’s frequently.

“If they are a decent shoe and I paid a bit, I get them repaired,” the 71-year-old said.

“Cobblers are brilliant, we need to keep them going! If they go it would be so bad. It’s good value for money, and they did a good job on my boots that’s for sure.

“I bought these boots about six years ago and they still look great, that’s why I keep coming back and having them repaired, where could I get boots like this!”

Timpson is the largest shoe repair company in the country and has five stores in the Bolton area.

Stephen Watkinson

Regional manager Steve Haslam, 41, added: “We’re going nowhere, we’ve been here on Market Street since the 60s. We started with shoes then repaired them, made keys and moved on.

“Last cobbler in Bolton was on the corner by us, but that went about 12 months ago. If you look back ten years there were four cobblers in town, Timpson’s had two shops, this and one in Crompton Place, there was a guy in the market and another around the corner from here.”