Comments on: Ahmet Kamil, Shoe Repairer

By: Cherub

Cherub — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:53:13 +0000

I wonder what his dad’s shop in Hornchurch was? I used to live there.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 07:42:52 +0000

Good to see the work of a Real Shoe Repairer. I thought they were extinct, with just the likes of T*mps*ns on the High Street, with their one-size-fits-all approach to mending. I hope Ahmet Kamil has many working years ahead of him yet.

By: Roberta Wedge

Roberta Wedge — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 18:17:14 +0000

I know the terrace well. One of the four houses was the home of Rev Richard Price, the gentle preacher who was so instrumental in shaping the constitution of the rebellious colonies, aka the United States. He lived in Newington Green from 1758 until his death in 1791, and in his dining room, or in the chapel 100 meters away, luminaries and radicals from Tom Paine to Benjamin Franklin came to discuss with the learned minister.
The person he most influenced was Mary Wollstonecraft, sending her on a new trajectory from schoolteacher to polemicist. He preached equality for all men, at the time of the American and later the French Revolutions: she extended this, and wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman not long after his death.
More on Richard Price and Newington Green:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Price
More on Mary Wollstonecraft, including the campaign for a statue on the Green:
http://avindicationoftherightsofmary.blogspot.co.uk/
The house next to the cobbler is being gutted and renovated; I was inside a few days ago and the fireplaces and staircase look convincing enough to this untrained eye. I don’t know if the owner intends to live there, or wishes to sell or rent it, but if you have a taste for C17-C18 history, you could do worse than enquire within.

By: Robert Weston

Robert Weston — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 14:26:44 +0000

He’s the last remaining shop in the terrace, the others have all now had their ground floor facades recreated, and appear to be gentrified.
I recorded these buildings for the Historic Bldgs Division of the GLC back in the 1970’s (now in the Eng. Heritage archives), when they were just tenements. They had most of their lovely interior details and stair joinery complete. Fabulous examples of the plan and type of houses built just before the Great Fire of London.

By: Bronchitikat

Bronchitikat — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 12:05:26 +0000

We had a shoe shop in a Portsmouth backstreet near us for many years. Yes, it sold new shoes, dance pumps etc, but he was mainly known for his repairs. The years we’ve been going there for resoling and heeling . . .

Only he’s been trying to retire for the past couple of years. Trying to sell the business as a going concern, cos it was, people would come to him for miles to get their shoes repaired. Trouble is he can’t find a buyer. I can see the place being transformed into a couple of flats and we’ll have to start searching again for a reliable and good repair person. Darn!

By: Neville Turner

Neville Turner — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 11:47:21 +0000

Keep up the good work Ahmet,it’s always good to hear of real craftmen who manage to keep their skill going doing something that the internet cannot supply.Shoe makers and repairers from Cyprus have always been some of the best,I remember made to measure shoes being made by very skilled Cypriot craftmen in Brick Lane Spitalfields about 1955.Take very good care of your hands Ahmet they have skills we do not want to lose.

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 09:58:46 +0000

The terrace is just beautiful, let’s hope Boris Johnson doesn’t decide to destroy it. Ahmet is a true craftsman, and has a wonderful attitude to his work. Valerie

By: Jackie Malton

Jackie Malton — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 09:08:24 +0000

I would love to take my shoes to this wonderful cobbler, although North London is too far from Guildford! I love a proper Cobblers shop…nostalgia I think ! My briefcase from Florence is now very; old and battered but I seek out the cobbler when needed and my briefcase continues its journey.
Thank you once again GA for introducing us to these wonderful London craftsmen and characters.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 08:07:39 +0000

Delicious chaos 🙂

By: Barry Jackson

Barry Jackson — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 07:35:31 +0000

Thank you, Gentle Author, for introducing us to another lovely Londoner. I expect you know that the brick terrace which houses Ahmet’s shop dates from the seventeenth century. Do you know any more about its history?