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I'm not usually one for Sartorial elegance, but my mother volunteered to drop off a pair of RM Williams Henley Chelsea boots at the local cobblers to fix split stitching at the tow and polish. Cobler has chopped out half the sole and glommed a thick synthetic sole over the front third and replaced the heels.
Any chance someone can bring them back to how they should be or what suitable replacements? I had them 15 years, and probably can't afford to replace them like for like (Henley is discontinued apparently).
Either send them back to RM Williams for refurbishment or go for one of the specialist refurbishers on the internet. Either option will be spendy.
I feel your pain, shit cobblers who are used to sticking on adhesive soles to shit shoes should turn down work on Goodyear welted, Blake soled and Nordic welted shoes because they ruin them. I’ve had the same thing.
Gary has been my go-to guy for decades. If he isn't available, I go across the road to Shoe Healer. Both Doncaster.
Ingham’s in Chesterfield, he’s quite often posting restorations that he has done. If not they sell Loake amongst others- I waited until I was 60 for my first pair with the expectation that they’ll see me out!
I often find Loakes at Herring Shoes half price, as they have a generous policy of when a customer returns a new pair with a slight blemish, they sell them on for half price
The website is easy to navigate for brands (Barker, Church, Loake, RM Williams), shoe size and discount (!) which means finding a pair you like, in the size you need, at a price that is palatable is a straight forward search process (Wiggle!)
Dean at Yorkshire Sole in, er, Yorkshire does my shoes when they need a repair or resole. You can specify the type of sole, and what you want done. Apparently now on that there Repair Shop, so presumably is recommended by others.
Or there's another reputable one in Kent https://www.shoe-repairs.co.uk/mens-shoe-repairs. Not used them myself but would be my second go to
For the smaller fixes ( I got a pair of second hand RM Chukkas from Australia that needed a quick stitch in the leather) there will be a decent cobbler nearby. Word of mouth and all that.
If loakes fit the bill (or feet) then watch out for seconds on Northshoes, loake seconds are teeny blemishes and hence a bargain. North shoes also seem to have sales occasionally, or at least they did back in January....I picked up about 7 pairs of 1880s or shoemakers for £60 each!
At that price it's cheaper to start a new pair so I don't bother a cobler. However, look up Dan at Tring shoe repair. He's on YouTube, looks very good work to me, and he definitely does stuff by post as some of his videos talk about it.
My mate Ken Simpson in Shildon, Co. Durham. He is amazing at what he does.
https://www.simpsonsshoerepairs.co.uk
If you contact him he'll be able to give you options and a quote for the repair. If he can't fix them then they are dead.