Letter of the month

THANK GOODNESS THEY DON’T MAKE BOOTS LIKE THEY USED TO

I read correspondent River Howe’s letter, ‘Boots not what they used to be’ (August 2021), with some interest. But my own experiences of older tramping boots are rather different to his.

I remember well the trials of breaking in new John Bull, or later, Anson D-Ring boots – soaking in water for days at home, drying them out, repeating the process, Dubbin, more soaking in the forlorn hope that the first trip would not result in heel blisters.

I still have bone spurs on my heels that compromise my footwear options, caused by years of rigid, inflexible and heavy boots.

Nowadays I have settled on a lightweight Italian leather boot. They are quite