Delia Daws (nee Towers), of Kendal, recalls the importance of K Shoes in the 1930s

 

In the 1930s, Kirkland, in Kendal, was like a small village with such a good variety of shops, almost anything could be purchased without going into the town centre.

One such thriving business was Nicholson’s Cobblers at the corner of Peppercorn car park.

We never threw K shoes out; they were known to last forever.

We, who were lucky enough to have relatives working at Netherfield factory, were given their cast-offs. We then took them to ‘Dick Nicks’ where he would sole, heel and stitch them. They always came out with a new lease of life.

My mother told me of one larger than normal, less fortunate family where the children just had one pair of shoes between them. Whether they fit or not, a different child would go to school in them each day whilst the others played at home barefoot.

One of my mother’s cousins, Colin Saul of Lound Street, Kendal, a K Shoe worker, joined the 6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in WW2. He was killed in action in February 1945.

His photograph can be seen in the Heritage Centre of the K Village alongside all the other casualties from both wars.

A neighbour of mine from Helme Drive was lost at Scapa Flow at the start of WW2. The Royal Oak was sunk by a U-boat.

On holiday in the Orkneys I found his grave, along with hundreds of others.

It is good that we remember them.