RON VOWDEN. SHOE REPAIRER SINCE 1959.

RON'S SHOE REPAIRS, CHINGFORD. EST 1976.

I was born in Devon in 1947, and was adopted. Sadly, my new mum died when I was six years old, so I spent my young life with my adopted dad. He had been disabled as a child by measles, and basically grew up in hospital and even learned his trade as a cobbler whilst in there! I continually moved all over Devon with him as he looked for work in appropriate premises, and I went to sixteen different schools, never quite fitted in, and was bullied as a permanent new boy. So I didn't get a great education, and can still struggle with writing skills.

But that hasn't held me back, because my memory is good and my hands are skilled. I worked in my Dad's shops from when I was twelve years old, until I finished school. My first job was repairing big old heavy army boots. I came to North London with Dad and then got married in 1973. At the time I was working for a nationwide heel bar company, ending up as Area Manager, in charge of sixteen shops, and thirty two staff.

My wife and I moved to Chingford, and in 1976 I decided that I'd had enough of the long hours without overtime pay, and driving long distances, so I decided I'd rather use the hours to run my own business. This place came up for sale in 1976. It had been a shoe repairers (R.Boyle) since 1934, so was well established. '76 was the hot summer, and the first thing I had to do was replace the windows, as the small panes cracked in the extreme heat. As you can imagine, inside the shop it was unbearable! I have had up to four people working here, and it was a bit of a squeeze, but I'm on my own now, as far more people throw shoes away nowadays, despite the fact that they have perfectly good uppers and just need a cheap repair to the heel or the sole. Mind you, the other day I worked out that since I started working at twelve years old, I have been involved in the repair of close on one million pairs of shoes, so I'm not too fussed that business is slowing a bit!!!

Most of my work comes in by word of mouth. Some work comes in by post from a distance, and one job came from as far away as Nigeria. That was a strange one. I repaired the shoes, but before I could send them back, I got a message that the owner of the shoes had died. I had already been paid and was asked to dispose of the shoes. Another time, a Canadian lady who lived locally, brought in a shopping trolley with broken wheels. I fixed them for her, and we became friends for about the last ten years of her life. Later, I received a letter from her daughter in Canada saying how much her mum had enjoyed our friendship. That was really touching, as was the unsigned greeting card I received recently, congratulating me for 35 years of business here. Now who would remember something like that? (Actually it was a year early, at 34 years, but that's beside the point!)

I like to support charities, so I have these collection boxes here, and over the years, through my customers' generosity, I've been able to pass on £10,000 to the Guide Dogs for the Blind, and £4,000 to St.Francis Hospice.

Outside of here, I have one day off a week, and use that to do the books, but I manage to enjoy working and relaxing in the garden. I have no plans for the future, other than to carry on working while my health allows, so I can carry on enjoying meeting and helping my customers.