Join the 'Clognoscenti'

I'm one half of Carréducker, award-winning bespoke shoemakers, educators and designers based in London. (I'll declare up front I hate puns, but couldn't resist throwing a few in here).

We've been fortunate to work with one or two gems in British shoe manufacturing in the past, making desert boots with Jadd Shoes in Suffolk and Tor boots with William Lennon in Derbyshire. We usually start by giving their boots a test drive and then working with them to launch our version as a made-to-order, kickstarter campaign. It's as close to manufacturing as we get, with the added advantage that it epitomises the "buy better, buy less" philosophy.

We aim to

• Minimise returns and exchanges by providing as much fit info as possible
• Manufacture sustainably - by making to order with just a few extra pairs extra in each size and colour way
• Make footwear that is durable, repairable and recyclable

This time we're launching Saltaire Clogs, shining a spotlight on the critically endangered craft of heritage English clog making.

SALTAIRE HERITAGE CLOGS

Saltaire Clogs are available in vegetable tanned leather, which is responsibly sourced and produced using natural vegetable tanning agents like mimosa and oak bark.

We wanted to capture just how contemporary and versatile clogs are.

So we were thrilled when award winning photographer and film director, Barney Cokeliss offered to capture them for us on the boardwalks and steps outsided our studio here at London's iconic Oxo Tower Wharf.

We were even more thrilled when the magnificent community of makers (and Francis from security) here at Oxo volunteered to model them!

CLOGUMENTARY - THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH CLOGS

Clogs date as far back as the 1400s and evolved from a simple wooden shoe to keep feet out of the myre into the leather and wood, heeled clog we know today.

The word clog itself may be derived from the old English 'clogge' meaning a lump of wood.

Worn by mill workers, miners and farmers alike, English clogs were made with leather uppers and wooden soles, designed to protect the feet in tough conditions.

They became popular during the Industrial Revolution because they were the most comfortable, affordable and hardwearing footwear available to the workers. Worn with knitted socks they kept workers' feet warm and they remained everyday footwear all over Britain, well into the 1920s.

The story of clogs is as intertwined with the Industrial Revolution as it is with English folklore, when they were worn as much for fighting as dancing. ..their brass tips were put to good use by gang members 'purring’ or fighting to defend their 'turf' in the industrial heartlands.

More widely, clogs became synonymous with dancing, born amongst the cobbled streets of the industrial and mining towns of the North of England.

CARREDUCKER SALTAIRE CLOGS

Today, just a few traditional clogmakers remain here in England, still making clogs for dancing but also for the 'clognoscenti' - clog lovers who have discovered just how comfortable these wooden soled shoes are.

This is why clogmaking is on Heritage Craft's critically endangered list; and why we're keen to shine a spotlight on clogs, in the year when the UK ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. clogs take their name from Saltaire, perhaps the most famous Victorian industrial model village and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Built by Titus Salt for his workers, it features Italianate architecture, workers' cottages, a school, a park and a chapel.

They are made nearby by clog maker and folk dancer Phil Howard, in his workshop, overlooking the picturesque Wharfedale Valley and the charming market town of Otley, West Yorkshire.

There was very little that we wanted to change in the traditional design after our road test.

• They're made in one of our favourite leathers, a vegetable tanned leather from the Walpier tannery in Tuscany, Italy.
• A VERY limited number will be made in a special vegetable tanned leather from British Pasture Leather. (It's the first of its kind in the UK made from the hides of cattle raised on regenerative farms. The farms are certified by Pasture for Life and practise the highest standards of ecological agriculture and animal welfare).
• The soles are made from seasoned Sycamore, grown in Northumberland and popular for its smooth, pale, almost grain-free character.
• They are held together by long steel and brassed nails with a brass toeplate
• They have rubber sticker soles and heels for extra bounce and to preserve the wooden clog sole

BE A CLOG-STAR

Our kickstarter is about preserving a heritage craft and the intangible cultural skills of clogmaking.

But it's also about well made, slow fashion; about style and comfort; about repairability.

Need to give your sneakers a break? Clogs look good with skirts, dresses, jeans and tailoring.

Wear your clogs in the summer sockless and your feet will be cool and comfortable; pop on a pair of socks in the winter and your feet will be warm and cosy.

There's a host of other ways that you can support the campaign if you really don't want to become part of the clognoscenti (a pun, which if I'm honest may aready be wearing thin).

British-made Genevieve Sweeney socks in soft merino wool, organic cotton and alpaca

A belt-making workshop

Bespoke shoes at crazy pledge prices

Or even a talk by yours truly about the history of shoemakers in the City of London

Either way, if you support the campaign today you'll be a clog-star. Simply click on the link below and make yoiur pledge

Support the Saltaire Clog Kickstarter Campaign here