1 week Ago By [email protected] (Wesley Holmes)
Lenny left school with no qualifications and went on to follow in his dad's footsteps A master of one of the world's oldest professions has decided to retire at the age of 67. Lenny Hoare, from Wallasey , is putting away the hammer and nails for good after 51 years in the shoemaking business. The experienced cobbler, who left school at the age of 15 with no qualifications and joined his dad in the family trade, spent his long career mending the shoes of the people of Merseyside - often taking on more difficult jobs which were sent to him specially.
His careful work even made it to the big screen, as he worked on shoes for popular Netflix series The Crown. Other credits include shoes made for 2014 British thriller '71, set in Belfast at the height of the Troubles in 1971, and the 2016 American drama Genius, based on the life of book editor Maxwell Perkins in 1930s New York. Lenny, a dad of two, said: "I left school with no exam results, and my dad said come and work with me at Coombs.
Coombs were all over the country at that time, like Timpson's today. The Allerton Road Timpson's is an old Coombs shop from years ago. "I started out at Wallasey, then moved to Victoria Street (Liverpool) when I was 17.
It's all wine bars now, but years ago there was a lot of solicitors and offices based there. "We used to purely do shoe repair. Some days you'd do 100-odd pairs of shoes a day.
It was all leatherwork, Brogues and girls with stilettos. But there was hardly any key cutting then because it wasn't really a big thing at the time. "There were no books to show you what to do.
You just had to go live. My dad used to show me and I would copy him. "You did make mistakes at first, but the more you practiced the better you got.
In the old days you used to spit nails out of your mouth, banging the nails in the heels." After working at Coombs, Lenny then moved to Mister Minit on Allerton Road, where he remained until the branch was bought out by the Timpson group in 2003. There, he continued his work until his retirement on Friday last week on August 30.
He said: "I've loved shoes since I was young. It's nice when people come in with a lovely pair of shoes and say 'we've been everywhere and we couldn't find anyone else'. "It's nice when someone trusts you with an important pair of shoes and they go out with a smile on their face.
I've met thousands of people, I've had loads of chats and talks, and people still recognise you from years ago. "It's a real craft. People, when they bring in a shoe, all they see is the finished product at the end of the process, but if they sat and watched for an hour they'd see there's a real art to it.
I've trained hundreds of shoemakers over the years. I will miss it.".
