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Wednesday 12 September 2012

After the Finishers finished

Shoe factory via Stu McP

THIS view across the Wensum in the northern suburbs of Norwich might shock anyone who’s moved in over the last decade or so. It shows the old Edwards & Holmes shoe factory on Drayton Road, once a big employer, now long gone.

In its place (just upstream of Wensum Park) is a new housing development featuring streets with names like Clickers Road and Finishers Road. Both are terms, you’ll be glad to hear, that mean something to the average cobbler. A Clicker cut the leather for the uppers of shoes using a machine which made, you guessed it, a clicking sound. Finishers water-proofed, blackened and waxed the shoe at the end of the production line.

Edwards and Holmes was clearly a big factory, but I have no idea what the long light-coloured objects are at the water’s edge. Something to do with rowing or something to do with the shoe industry? Give us a shout if you know the answer.

* Thanks to StuMcP for his help on this one.

Wensum Hell to Half 1011 129

3 comments:

  1. My Dad worked here at Edwards and Holmes for 50 odd years from age 14 til 65, only took time out to join the navy and go fight in WW2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jonny, sorry to ask such a sensitive question, but is your Dad still alive?

      Steve
      sanddsilk@btinternet.com

      Delete
  2. Hi Steve
    Ref the above,I've sent you an email :-)

    ReplyDelete