Just some of my experiences from a trip to Northampton. Manton and others have provided fully illustrated threads on Style Forum. I found those interesting, though I know some of you may not like the poster.

Anyway, I got a cheap train up from Euston as I did not fancy driving up the M1. The journey was quick and pleasant. I actually drove to Northampton the following day for a family celebration . The M1 was not the nightmare that it used to be. It was a Saturday but there was not the amount of road works that used to make car trips such a nightmare.

Everyone of the five shoe factories is in walking distance of Northampton station. Church’s is right next to it. I could have caught a taxi but I prefer walking, mooching around and getting a feel for the place.

My first call was J. Lobb - the furthest away in a Northern direction. Straight up through the town centre and just past the racecourse open space. You ring the bell and go upstairs. Like many of the shoe places, it is a proper old factory with a lot of character. The shop is not that  big and the shoes are in boxes down narrow aisles. There were other customers there when I arrived - all foreigners -an American, an Oriental and some Francophone blacks.

I was told there were no Oxfords, but they did have monk shoes. I tried Chapel double monks in museum brown. I liked them and bought them.

Next stop was Trickers. Crockett and Jones were closer but they were not yet open. Trickers has a fine shop. As has been mentioned before, the person who runs the shop is very knowledgeable and helpful. Trickers has a carpark which is welcome as the street is restricted waiting. Lobbs and Crockett & Jones are OK for street parking. I doubled back to Crockett & Jones which already had quite a few people browsing. Their shop is the largest I was in. Contrary to what has sometimes been said, they did have hand grades on sale.. They seemed to have huge numbers of Tetbury chukkas with Dainite soles too. However, in terms of savings nothing could touch  J Lobb. I also found that some C&J shoes had been obviously tried on so many times that you could say they were shop-soiled.

Back to the town centre on a lovely sunny day. I stopped off for a couple of pints (Holden’s Special - very nice) I then went to Church’s. They are right by the rail station. The shop is down a side street from the main reception. They had sample shoes for £75. That would be OK but all samples are in a size 8.5. No good for me. Nothing that looked a great bargain so I left and got the train back.

Please note that the factories close down completely for certain weeks. I was planning to go a fortnight ago but they were closed then. It is also worth ringing ahead to see what stock they have in your size. They will not have the whole range in the factory shop. Certain weeks are better than others. As a Brit, it gave me great satisfaction to see we are still making world class products albeit in limited amounts. It was nice to support a British industry. Obviously you look at people's feet as you are in the town. They are not well shod. It is a typical British town. Dress standards are typical - in other words poor.

I did not visit Edward Green as you have to phone in advance and book an appointment.

Last edited by Kingstonian (2009-06-15 03:27:58)