M. Walker & Sons, Tanners, Vinegar Yard, Bermondsey

For years – actually at least two decades now – I have been revisiting a ghosted hand-painted sign that overlooks Vinegar Yard in Bermondsey, here, to see if I can decipher the wording

Well, it's finally showing through, and there are some lovely logos also visible these days.

At the top, above and behind the crane, it reads:

M. WALKER & SONS LTD
TANNERS, CURRIERS & EXTRACT MANUFACTURERS
ROSE HILL TANNERS
BOLTON, LANCS

Extract is a reference to vinegar, used in the leather tanning process. 

Then, to the left, below the crane there is a logo of sorts that reads: 

ROSE HILL
SOLE LEATHER
WALKER BOLTON
around an illustration of a rose

Underneath in block letters, we have:

"ROSE HILL"
"DAINTY ROSE"
AND
RAILWAY
SOLE BLENDS
AND [oil?] SOLES
[horizontal rule]
....INNED
[something... I can't see below that]

On the right side there is a correlating panel that starts with diamond-shaped motif containing the words:

DRI REGD PED
LEATHER

REGD and LEATHER are set smaller than the product name.
It continues:

"DRI-PED"
SUPER LEATHER
CHROME SOLE
AND
MECHANICAL
LEATHERS
[????]
CURRIER [or CURRIED] 

It appears the company was making heavy quality leather for shoes and work boots.
William Walker and Sons, 1895-1980, are listed here with lots more info about the company here in The Bolton News

There are quite a lot of ads for Dri-Ped available online. My favourite is this one.

Holloway Leather Stores – lovely carved wooden shop sign reveal in N7

Look what I noticed last week (Thursday 2nd August)...
A shop at 229 Holloway Road is at the moment empty and available for rent through local agent Drivers & Norris.
A lovely old carved wooden sign has been revealed. This would have been the backing part to another later of glass that sat against it and made the letters 'ping'.
I particularly like how it's dropped it's H, as in 'olloway!

I have tried to find ref of this company but cannot see it listed in either 1895 or 1915 which are the only directories I have to hand.
If you have any more info do get in touch.

Thanks in advance

Update1: I put this on the Islington Archaeology & History Society Facebook page and one lady responded with this:
Early 60's I used to have my shoes made there, you picked out the leather and style you liked. They had outlined both of your feet on cardboard, which they kept in a filing cabinet. It took 3- 5 days dependinfg how busy they were to make the shoes. They were stilletto's with pointed toes. They also made handbags and you could choose the colour and type of leather plus the style. They were the best shoes I have ever worn. 

Update 2: (Wednesday 8th August) Went past it on the bus this morning and could see that the old sign as been covered with a modern sign that encases it. So it's still there but no longer visible.

FOUND at the Foundling Museum – curated by Cornelia Parker

Here's interesting... in amongst the lovely historical artefacts and artworks at this small but evocative museum there are exhibits by sixty modern artists that respond to the theme of 'FOUND'.
Cornelia Parker (no relation) has brought together an eclectic panel of people who have all come at this idea from different angles. The exhibition runs until 4th September.
The Foundling's website will tell you more, but not too much or else there'd be no surprises.
Seeing Cordelia's image of a piece of an old leather shoe brings to mind a post I wrote two years ago when I FOUND (see what I did there) lots of bits of shoe leather on the foreshore near Blackfriars Bridge south side.
Here's a pile of other stuff I FOUND on the foreshore at Limehouse.

At the Foundling gift shop there is a selection of my jewellery made from clay pipes which perfectly fits in with the FOUND theme.
Some pics of the museum here.

A Tour of Saddlers Hall – Just let your feet go clippity-clop

Another livery company tour organised by London Historians.

Saddlery is all the equestrian bits and pieces needed to deck out a horse, hence The Saddlers' Hall contains lots of beautiful and unusual leatherwork and bridleware, plus other related items such as silverware, artefacts and paintings including a lovely one of Princess Anne who, on 20th July 2015, was installed as the The Saddlers' Company's Third Perpetual Master (see more about this position below). Anne shares my birthday and therefore is my favourite Royal.
   

The Saddlers' Hall website doesn't give much info re history – it appears to be mainly about venue hire. Well, I suppose they need the money for the upkeep of the place and looks to be a great place for a posh party!

I have been singing a nursery rhyme this whilst writing this so I added a line from it into the title and put the whole thing here. I think I might be regressing!
    Horsey, horsey, don't you stop
    Just let your feet go clippity-clop
    Your tail goes swish and your wheels go round
    Giddy-up, we're homeward bound!

Also see my posts about tours of the Drapers', Cutlers', Skinners' and Vintners' halls, and the Mercers' Maiden. Or click on Livery Halls in the Labels list to the left.

Perpetual Master: An historic title specifically mentioned in the The Saddlers’ Company Royal Charter, created in 1737 for Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales. The Saddlers’ Company considers it to be the highest accolade that it can bestow. HRH Prince Arthur, The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, filled the role between 1906 and 1942.
The Princess Royal was made an Honorary Freeman of the Saddlers’ Company on 30th November 1971 when she became a Yeoman as a 'distinguished user of the saddle' having won the Individual Gold Medal in the European Eventing Championships earlier that year.
When HRH is in the Hall on Saddlers’ business or when she represents the Company elsewhere, she is called “Master”. The role of Perpetual Master is not a day-to-day executive position. When HRH is not available the Prime Warden Saddler Mr Charles Barclay fulfills all her duties as effective head of the Company.

Cobblers!

I was just about to put a collection of pics together about this past weekend's walk from Greenwich to Wapping when it occurred to me that I still hadn't posted about last month. So here goes...
I went with a couple of friends to the foreshore on the southern side of the river under Blackfriars Bridge and then we wandered along eastwards.  I spotted a strange hardened lump of metal that looked like stone made from petrified eels, and some plastic poking out of the ground such like it seemed as if it was growing there. Also a foot shape ring of tufts which I though odd. There were also the usual bits of old weathered wood, oyster shells with holes in them and, of course, clay pipe fragments.

But it intrigued me how I kept seeing so many bits of leather shoes.
At first, I made a small collection and included a 'pair' of black gloves. But I kept finding more and more pieces of heel and soles, often hobnailed and beautifully handmade. In 30 minutes I managed to collect more than 30 bits so I arranged the best of them on the access steps near Tate Modern for other people to admire. The ages of these items varied a lot. Most were Victorian/Edwardian; others definitely came from the mid-20th century, and some were quite plainly less than 10 years old.
So... why/how have these all ended up here? I have never seen shoes in such profusion on any other sections of Thames' foreshore.
Was this an area particularly affiliated with cobblers?