At the age of 16, one Norman Walsh, then working at JW Foster, was selected to make running shoes for the 1948 British Olympic team. Nearly 70 years later, the company he founded still makes sports shoes - in Bolton, England.
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| Grey Fox's son sports Walsh fell-running shoes after a run over the Cumbrian fells |
I had the chance to see some of the collection of sports and casual footwear at Best of Britannia last summer. Whenever I come across British companies I haven't come across before, I feel a real sense of surprise that we are often so ignorant of the superb manufacturing going on largely unrecognised in our country. The huge majority of trainers that we wear are made abroad by foreign-owned companies. Walsh makes beautiful products - so what's going on? I wish I knew - companies like Walsh should be household names in the UK.
I wanted to buy some fell-running shoes for my son for Christmas, so thought I'd be able to see one of Walsh's most iconic products in action. Beautifully-made, the shoes fitted my son perfectly and, after a long run over the Cumbrian fells, he was very happy with their comfort and grip on the rugged and muddy surfaces of a wet Christmas in The Lake District.
For more information see the Walsh website.
The history of Walsh trainers features in an exhibition, ‘Made in Britain – Walsh Trainers’ organised by the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey, London and runs from 31 January – 17 May 2014. I hope to cover this exhibition in more detail in a future blog post.
The history of Walsh trainers features in an exhibition, ‘Made in Britain – Walsh Trainers’ organised by the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey, London and runs from 31 January – 17 May 2014. I hope to cover this exhibition in more detail in a future blog post.
