Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:18 am  

cod'ead wrote:

Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. They are hand-lasted and made in Bolton, when my local cobbler saw them, he reckoned he'd have no problem re-soling them in the future.

When I was playing rugby (back in the eighties when we were in the Stones Bitter 1st division)
Norman Walsh supplied the club with boots and training shoes, he measured each one of us and produced the best sports footwear I have ever had. I still have the boots and trainers they are still in good condition the quality is fantastic. I wondered where they (Walsh) had got too - Reebok... how sad.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:26 am  

Not clothes, but I still use a stereo system I bought 20 years ago that was made in the UK by Arcam, still works brilliantly and I have not heard sound quality any better since I had an valve amp and turntable in the 70's.

Don't know if they still produce in the UK these days though.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:44 am  

The company I worked for produced the swing tag labels for Asda George, Woolmark and Per Una amongst others and I invoiced the manufacturers every day and the country that produced the most garments was Turkey, closely followed by Cyprus and then Latvia. There were a few British ones but not many. As I left we had opened a subsiduary in China to produce labels but at that time China and the far East was in its infancy for us.

[DaveO]

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:46 am  

rover49 wrote:

Not clothes, but I still use a stereo system I bought 20 years ago that was made in the UK by Arcam, still works brilliantly and I have not heard sound quality any better since I had an valve amp and turntable in the 70's.

Don't know if they still produce in the UK these days though.

I don't know where Arcam produce their kit these days but I have some Naim amps I bought in the early 80's when I lived in London (and had the spare cash to indulge myself!). Naim serviced them for me last year and still manufacture in the UK. My amps are as good as new and you will never get a "no sorry we can't fix or service your amp" from Naim.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:06 am  

cod'ead wrote: Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. They are hand-lasted and made in Bolton, when my local cobbler saw them, he reckoned he'd have no problem re-soling them in the future. Walsh Casuals still going strong in Bolton. I've not heard of them being bought up by Reebok. They do have some links: Normal Walsh learnt his trade from JW Foster, whose grandsons later formed Reebok. Article from the factory floor, Dec 2012. Even a dedicated RL page! As someone who suffers from plantar fasciitis, getting the right footwear for running and RL is essential - was looking at their stuff a few weeks ago and thinking about popping over to Bolton to try some out.

cod'ead wrote: Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. They are hand-lasted and made in Bolton, when my local cobbler saw them, he reckoned he'd have no problem re-soling them in the future. Walsh Casuals still going strong in Bolton. I've not heard of them being bought up by Reebok. They do have some links: Normal Walsh learnt his trade from JW Foster, whose grandsons later formed Reebok. Article from the factory floor, Dec 2012. Even a dedicated RL page! As someone who suffers from plantar fasciitis, getting the right footwear for running and RL is essential - was looking at their stuff a few weeks ago and thinking about popping over to Bolton to try some out.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:16 am  

cod'ead wrote: Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. Not according to Companies House they haven't. The original company (Norman Walsh Footwear Ltd) was bought by the Crompton family in 1996, and they wound it up and relaunched as Walsh Sports Ltd which is still trading as an independent and still owned by the Crompton family... http://www.walshcasual.com/

cod'ead wrote: Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. Not according to Companies House they haven't. The original company (Norman Walsh Footwear Ltd) was bought by the Crompton family in 1996, and they wound it up and relaunched as Walsh Sports Ltd which is still trading as an independent and still owned by the Crompton family... http://www.walshcasual.com/

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:54 am  

Apologies to the Walsh brand.

I bought my trainers in a job lot of deadstock footwear at a boot sale around 5 years ago. Most of the items were Red or Dead but was delighted to find the Walsh trainers fitted me perfectly. I even remember suggesting to another forum member that he try to seek out Norman Walsh becuase he was looking for some casual sports shoes that were not among the "mainstream" brands. At the time I bought them the linked-to sites did not appear on any search engine, the only one I could find was an Italian website with what appeared to be obsolete information. Historical information was sparse and ended in the 1980s, Can't honestly remember where I ot the Reebok connection from but it was a few years ago.

I do hope that the current products have not compromised Walsh's original standards. Looking at the prices and styles, anyone would be stupid not to consider Walsh when next buying a pair of trainers.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:16 pm  

Never heard of them, but they look proper boss. Very likely to be adding a pair to my shoe cupboard.

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:18 pm  

Dr Martens are now making some of their footwear back in Northampton – primarily the 'vintage' range.

Obviously not British, but if you want to avoid sweatshop labour, then Birkenstocks are still made in Germany (and Portugal).

[Kosh]

Re: The Price of Cheap Clothes : Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:27 pm  

rover49 wrote:

Not clothes, but I still use a stereo system I bought 20 years ago that was made in the UK by Arcam, still works brilliantly and I have not heard sound quality any better since I had an valve amp and turntable in the 70's.

Don't know if they still produce in the UK these days though.

From Wiki:

Unlike many other audio manufacturers, ARCAM still manufactures many of its products in the UK, with the balance being made in the Far East. The engineering and design side of their products is managed in-house in Cambridge UK.

Fane and Celestion also follow this model with premium lines being manufactured in the UK and 'mass market' products being made in China.