The lady cobbler

THE SHOP is just off the Promenade, on the poorer, West End side of town, and going inside is like stepping back in time. It’s a cobbler’s shop and a leather merchant – but of a type you simply don’t generally see these days. The first thing that strikes you is that it’s a lady who is the proprietor. Behind the heavy wooden counter you see her workshop, and there is nothing high-tech about it; I think the most modern item I can see is a Singer sewing machine, one that’s worked with a treadle. Other tools I can see are a mystery to me, part of the mystique of her craft. It’s in here that she carries out her repairs of shoes and leather clothing, and charges a pittance for her excellent work.

My Good Lady and I are here, though, for a different reason. We’re shopping. We’re shopping for my Chrissie pressy – a pair of leather gloves which MGL is insisting on buying me. I certainly need a new pair, my fingers are poking out of the holes of my existing gloves. And it’s MGL’s idea to come here for them. So here we are, and as we step in, there is an almost overpowering smell of warm, sweet leather. A baffling assortment – I can’t call it an arrangement – of bags and purses greets us, shelf upon shelf of them. We ask for gentlemen’s gloves; and the lady cobbler rummages amongst her stock, first in one place, than another, until - triumphantly – she pulls out a pair gent’s quality black leather gloves. I try them on and they fit perfectly. “How much are they?” I ask. I’m expecting something in the region of £15 to £20. The lady cobbler glances at the ticket. “Six ninety-nine,” she says. Less than seven pounds for a pair of quality leather gloves!

If you are ever in Morecambe and in need of leather goods, I can recommend The Lady Cobbler on Regent Road. Even if you can’t find anything you like, it really is an experience going there, a blast from the past.