Sweetmore & Firth

13/10/2026

Recap on The New Mills Shoe 💗

09/10/2026

A talented shoemaker in the training 👞

We sent Craig to Sweetmore & Firth in New Mills to make shoes this afternoon.

How did he do, we'll show you very soon

07/10/2026

We'd never let our kids wear the wrong size shoes... so why do we?

I was looking at the stats and it shocked me:
The College of Podiatry found 29% of children wear completely the wrong size, which is why we all rush to get them measured.
But for adults? 74% haven't been measured since childhood. No wonder so many of us have sore feet, bunions and shoes we never wear.

Online shopping has made it worse - buy 2 sizes, keep neither, pay postage both ways.

My service takes that stress away:
Measure - Order - Fit - Return
I do the faff, you get shoes that actually fit.

If your shoes live in the box because they hurt, let's fix it.

05/10/2026

The New Mills Shoe — The Full Story
From seed to shoe.

It all started with flax seeds.

Martyn and Kate grew the flax and made it into a beautiful canvas fabric.

Annie then naturally dyed the thread using homegrown finds from New Mills, and embroidered the heart onto the fabric.

From there, I made it into the shoe.

The shoe features buttons made by Rowena from New Mills clay, glazed with natural products from New Mills, alongside Leon’s incredible prints and artwork, Steven’s cartoon, and bringing it together with Swizzles Love Hearts and the town with the heart — The New Mills Shoe.

Bringing together many New Mills makers into one beautiful story — a shoe made entirely from New Mills, by New Mills.

04/10/2026

Whilst I was at secondary school I took part in the German exchange every year, going to New Mills' twin town Alsfeld a few times. What a beautiful place - a chocolate box town. A must place to visit.

This weekend at Oktoberfest, the incredible people of New Mills Market Hall brought our two towns together again. Families, communities and stories.

I was upset to learn that the German exchange doesn't happen anymore, and speaking to the Mayor of Alsfeld I realised what an incredible connection we had - and how much it's been missed and how much has been lost.

I'm still in contact with the girls I partnered with all those years ago, which just shows how special it was. Thanks to Facebook, it has kept me connected with Merle, Julia and Laura 🫶

Found these from when the Alsfeld exchange visited us in 2009 - Chester and outside school in New Mills. We had many exchanges before these photos were taken too.

Fast forward to this weekend at Oktoberfest in New Mills Market Hall seeing our twin towns together again. So much has been lost since the exchange ended, but what a beautiful reminder of what we had.

I've spent a lot of time in Germany over the years, both on the exchange and watching incredible shoemakers at work. Shoemaker is actually of German origin - an anglicized form of Schumacher / Schuhmacher, literally meaning "shoemaker". It feels full circle to be connected to a craft with such German roots. Special mention to the shiny boots with the spurs! show and brass band Alsfeld 🫶

It's great to see places and people being brought together again. A forgotten love of mine, reignited - my 5 year old is now counting in German too! Eins, zwei, drei...

Have to say a highlight was the spaghetti eis! Maybe next year ❤️

Während meiner Zeit in der Secondary School habe ich jedes Jahr am deutschen Austausch teilgenommen und bin ein paar Mal in New Mills' Partnerstadt Alsfeld gewesen. Was für ein wunderschöner Ort - wie aus einem Bilderbuch. Ein Ort, den man unbedingt besuchen muss.

Dieses Wochenende beim Oktoberfest auf dem New Mills Market Place kamen unsere beiden Städte wieder zusammen. Familien, Gemeinschaften und Geschichten.

Ich war traurig zu erfahren, dass der deutsche Austausch nicht mehr stattfindet, und als ich mit dem Bürgermeister von Alsfeld sprach, wurde mir klar, was für eine unglaubliche Verbindung wir hatten - und wie sehr sie vermisst wird und wie viel verloren gegangen ist.

Ich habe immer noch Kontakt zu den Mädchen, mit denen ich damals zusammengearbeitet habe, was zeigt, wie besonders das war. Dank Facebook bin ich mit Merle, Julia und Laura in Kontakt geblieben 🫶

Diese Fotos habe ich gefunden, als der Alsfelder Austausch uns 2009 besuchte - Chester und vor der Schule in New Mills.Wir hatten schon viele Austausche vor diesen Fotos.

Schneller Vorlauf zu diesem Wochenende beim Oktoberfest auf dem New Mills Market Place, wo unsere Partnerstädte wieder zusammenkamen. So viel ist verloren gegangen, seit der Austausch beendet wurde, aber was für eine schöne Erinnerung an das, was wir hatten.

Im Laufe der Jahre habe ich viel Zeit in Deutschland verbracht, sowohl beim Austausch als auch dabei, unglaublichen Schuhmachern bei der Arbeit zuzusehen. Shoemaker ist eigentlich deutschen Ursprungs - eine anglisierte Form von Schumacher / Schuhmacher, was wörtlich "Schuhmacher" bedeutet. Es fühlt sich an, als würde sich der Kreis schließen, mit einem Handwerk verbunden zu sein, das so tiefe deutsche Wurzeln hat. Besonderer Dank gilt den glänzenden Stiefeln mit den Sporen!

Es ist schön zu sehen, wie Orte und Menschen wieder zusammengebracht werden. Eine vergessene Liebe von mir, neu entfacht - mein 5-jähriges Kind zählt jetzt auch auf Deutsch! Eins, zwei, drei...

Ein Highlight war auf jeden Fall das Spaghetti-Eis! Vielleicht nächstes Jahr Eis auf dem New Mills Market Place? ❤️🇩🇪

30/09/2026

I’m not known for going over the top when it comes to things for the kids.

Flo started Rainbows and I have honestly never seen her so giddy, excited and just absolutely fizzing to be there. So of course she needed the uniform… and then I found her some rainbow trainers 🌈

Then came the message… “We’re in the park, wear boots in case of mud.”

Flo decided this meant she couldn’t wear her rainbow trainers and therefore had absolutely nothing to wear. Obviously, she needed rainbow boots too for all the adventures she was going to have with her Rainbows friends.

So I got the Cricut out, grabbed some leather paint and got to work 🌈🥾

A ordinary pair of boots turned into something much more Flo.

If you’ve got a pair of leather shoes, boots or trainers that need a bit of a makeover, our leather paints are perfect for getting creative. Whether it’s adding a splash of colour, personalising a favourite pair or giving something old a whole new lease of life, there’s so much you can do with them.

And yes… I may have created a slight monster because Flo now thinks every pair of shoes needs to be rainbow 🌈

24/09/2026

Summer might be over here in the UK, but that doesn’t mean the sunshine is!

These beautiful blue bespoke sandals were made for a client heading off on a sunny holiday, proving that there’s never a bad time for a pair of sandals when you’re escaping to warmer weather.

Bespoke footwear means we can create something that works specifically for your feet, while still looking stylish and feeling like something you’ll actually want to wear.

And I think this gorgeous blue is perfect for a holiday wardrobe.

Because comfortable footwear doesn’t have to mean compromising on style.

18/09/2026

I visited Quarry Bank recently, and in the Apprentice House I came across something that stopped me in my tracks.

There were rows of little suitcases, each containing the belongings of the children who lived and worked there.

And in two of them were clogs.

But one story in particular really stayed with me.

Her name was Elizabeth Sullivan. They called her Betty.

This is what she tells us about herself:

“My father was a soldier. When he died I was taken to the Royal Military Asylum in Chelsea. I was there for 10 years until I was 14 when I was sent here to work.

My feet cause me pain. The physician has prescribed me laudanum and written that special shoes should be made for me.”

Just think about that for a moment.

A 14-year-old girl, sent to work in a cotton mill, already suffering with painful feet.

And over 200 years ago, someone recognised that her footwear needed to be different.

That really resonated with me.

Because although the materials, knowledge and techniques have changed enormously, the fundamental principle hasn't:

**Sometimes ordinary footwear isn't enough.**

Betty needed shoes made specifically for her feet.

Today, that's still at the heart of what I do.

When I make bespoke footwear or orthotics, I'm not just making something to put on someone's feet. I'm trying to understand the person, their feet, their needs and what those feet have to cope with.

Seeing Betty's story made that connection across the generations feel incredibly real.

And those little clogs in her suitcase suddenly felt like much more than an old pair of shoes.

They were part of her story.

18/09/2026

I truly have the most wonderful customers!

Every single one has their own amazing story, incredible talents and something special to share. And one of my lovely customers has created something especially wonderful for me… my shop’s very own cartoon!

I’m absolutely blown away by the talent, thought and kindness that has gone into this. It’s such a special gift, and I’ll treasure it.

Thank you so, so much for putting your incredible talent into creating something so personal and meaningful.

I really do have the best customers! ✨

15/09/2026

A row of little boxes… but each one holds a very important piece of information.

These are foot impressions, ready to be turned into resin casts.

Those casts then become the foundation I work from when making bespoke orthotics.

Every foot is different, so rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, I’m able to create something based on the individual shape and needs of each person’s feet.

I love this part of the process because you can literally see the journey from someone’s foot → impression → cast → finished orthotic.

It might look like a simple box of material, but there’s a lot of precision behind what happens next.