Express & Star

Cobbler to hang up tools after 50 years

A cobbler will hang up his tools for the final time when he retires after more than 50 years of repairing shoes.

Published

Roger Crutchley will close his well-known shop, in Dudley Street, Sedgley, on Saturday. He has traded there for more than 20 years.

The 66-year-old, from Willenhall, said he had decided to retire after the lease ran out on the shop, which trades as Roger's Shoe Repairs but is better known as Wulfrun Services.

Cobbler Roger Crutchley

And although his loyal customers have asked him to stay on longer he said the time felt right for him to take it easy.

The lease on the shop has recently been taken on by Amber Taverns, which runs the White Horse pub next door.

Mr Crutchley said: "To be honest the end of the lease came at the right time. I wanted to retire and I would not have taken on a new one at my age.

The closing down sign

"Amber Taverns would have been obliged to offer me a new lease under law but I would not have gone for it.

"There are a lot of things I want to do but haven't had the time because I am working six days a week.

"I'll now get the chance to do them."

Mr Crutchley said the thing he would miss most was the customers.

"They have been wonderful through the years and very loyal," he said.

"If I have been away on holiday they have always waited until I have come back rather than go somewhere else.

"They are more like friends than customers and I will miss them dearly.

"Some have even asked me to take my machines with me so I can carry on mending their shoes for them. I've told them

Mr Crutchley, who has a wife, Sandra, and two daughters, has worked in the industry for more than 50 years - ever since he left school.

He learned the trade at other companies in Wolverhampton, including Smart Shoe Repairs and C and C Shoe Repairs, before taking on the shop in Sedgley 23 years ago.

Mr Crutchley said he planned to spend his retirement fishing, embarking on wood turning projects in his workshop and growing vegetables.

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