Cobbling together a traditional expertise

From brothel creepers to Ugg boots, cobbler Dennis Clarke can chart his career through fashions in shoes.

And as the 71-year-old nears the end of his career, business has never been so good.

"The credit crunch has been good for us," he says. "People are getting their shoes repaired instead of buying new ones."

Mr Clarke took over the tiny shop in Bell Street, Wolverhampton, opposite the shiny new Wulfrun Centre in 1967. He was offered a unit in the shopping flagship but never gave it serious consideration.

"I wasn't going to pay their fantastic rates and rent," he says. "And it's worked out well. I charge a few quid less than the repairers in the shopping centre but they've got carpets and nice clean counters."

Dennis's glass display counter is randomly stuffed with laces, inner soles and used plastic bags. Shoes ready for collection are piled high on shelves on the left of the counter. A sign warns customers that any footwear not claimed within three months will be sent for recycling. A surprising number fall into this category.

Mr Clarke started in the cobbling business in 1953, working in Blackheath, Brierley Hill and Dudley for Modern Shoe Repairs, later taken over by Mr Minet.

After National Service and a spell at Smart Shoe Repairs in Wolverhampton, he opened Densen's Cobblers with business partner Eric Cartwright and another shop in Dudley Road.

After Eric died in 1983, Dennis just kept on the Bell Street business. The finishing machine dominates the narrow workshop at the back. Its multitude of functions include levelling heels before he starts works on them, trimming soles and giving the shoes a shine.

Unlike most cobblers, Dennis also has a stitching machine. Nearly all soles and heels these days are stuck on but only an old-fashioned stitch will do for welted shoes. Generously he allows his mates in the cobbling world to use the machine when they need it. Airguns have taken the place of hammers for knocking nails into soles.

"But when it breaks down, you'll find me with nails in my mouth hammering away, just like an old-time cobbler," he chuckles.

He also uses the nails as a code to record when a pair of shoes was brought in, knocking in an extra nail in the right shoe to identify the month - under the fourth nail for April, for example - while the left shoe indicates which week of the month. "If people want to argue about when they left them, I just turn them over and look at the soles."

Another relic in this retail gem is the cash register which is pre-digital and can only ring up single figures. He closes Sundays and half-day Thursdays and says he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he retired.

But after 56 years in the business, it is now a consideration. He adds: "I like work, so I'll hang on until they close me down."