Walsh: trainers made in England

I love these Walsh trainers, made in Bolton, England. Founded by Norman Walsh, who made shoes for some of the great athletes and sportsmen of the fifties and sixties, it's a British brand based on genuine heritage and skills; one to be proud of and to support. Why buy trainers made in far-flung parts of the world when you can find well-designed and reasonably-priced UK-made shoes?

Seoul '88 blue

And this raises the issue whether the older man should wear trainers other than at the gym. Frankly I wear what I like, not what some fashion guru tells me to wear, so I'm going to wear my British-made trainers with pride.

To find out more about Walsh, visit their website here to browse and buy.

Challenger black tan

Walsh - trainers and sports shoes made in England

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.

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.