Wellington Boots.
They
transformed footwear on the farm. In the years up to 1940’s leather tip boots were the main
footwear often worn along with leather leggings which went round the calf of ya
leg fastened on with button hooks and a leather strap at the top. Or as they
did in the home guard shorter canvas spats with two leather straps to buckle
them on.
Our
first wellies were very prone to getting punctured or torn and when this
happened to both of them we cut the soul off completely leaving only the top
shell of the foot and leg.
These
were then pulled on and the leather hob nail boots put on under them. The shell
of the welly then was settled down and protected your boot uppers from dirt,
ideal when working on pulling sugar beet or cutting mangols or kale for the
cows, the ground at that time of year being sticky soil which soon baulmed (my
word for clogged) up your inside of ya feet and legs as you moved about.
Father
had his own last on which he could mend his own and the families boots and
shoes, this mostly comprised of a jar full on hob nails, some were in triple
form where three nails fastened together and held in the leather soul better
round the outer edges of the boot and in filled with a few rows of single nail
on the ball of the foot. Round the front edge he had an assortment of tips of
metal and a complete horse shoe type tip that went completely round the heel.
This
had been the leather boot worn on farms for years, repaired and re-souled until
the uppers started to burst from their stitches. Then shortly after wellington
boots came in came the boot with rubber soul vulcanised to the leather uppers,
these were at the time called everlasting boots (a bit like when the biro ball
point pen came in they were called everlasting pens). They were ridiculed and
criticised at the time, often being cheaper to buy than their original
counterpart. This spelled the end for the village cobbler as all he could do
for these new type of boots was to supply new leather laces.
Ode
to a Welly
My wellies your
wellies and kids wellies too,
Clean wellies
dirty wellies some there full of pooh,
New wellies old
wellies some with holes right through,
Country wellies
town wellies, a big long rubber shoe,
Shiny wellies dull
wellies and coloured wellies new,
Chewed wellies torn
wellies, on the bonfire threw,
Smelly wellies
pongy wellies some we have out grew
Wellies we can’t
do without, often must renew.
Owd Fred
Wellies
large and wellies small
Wellies large and wellies
small, of sizes there are many
Some are black
some are green, and they cost a pretty penny,
Some are painted
in bright colours, but still ya feet they smell,
Trample through
the mud and ditches, through the house as well.
The kids they have
them round the farm, they hold the water in,
Walking out
through deep puddles, wet through to the skin,
How much water
they will hold, and your feet an-all,
Tip them out on
the door mat, make mother shout and bawl.
Owd Fred
Now, what am I looking for?
Ya ware them in
the rain, and ya ware them in the snow,
Ya ware them in
the mud, and everywhere you go,
Ya keep them in the
car, in case of floods you never know,
Ya can’t do
without them, left behind it is a blow,
And what I’m
looking for, my WELLIES high and low
Owd Fred
