Alan James Raddon's photostream  

These are my Classic shoes that I started to make around the early 90’s.
I'd abandoned using three kinds of 5-6mm leather in the soles in favour of just using to layers of leather that was soft and used in Hydraulic Engineering to create oil seal under high pressure and heat, then protecting the sole from wear with a hard wearing thin rubber sole and heel.
It made the shoes lighter and easier to repair.
They are signed and dated 9.1.12. and they have a deeper toe box and arch than my standard shoes to fit a client with wider deeper feet than my standard Lasts.
www.shandals.co.uk

Another archive photograph taken by Tlopfi lebodofski. In the background you can see some of my collection of very early Rope Soled Slippers 82-84. I love this photgraph with the bare light bulb reflected in my eyes and Tlopfi in the background with his Roliflex 2 & 1/4 camera

Another Archive photograph - 35 Transparancy. They are signed and dated 13.7.92 my 48th birthday and I love them to bits. I'd had the idea for months and eventually bought the armchair from an Antique Dealer in Aberaeron. The covering was well worn but the back of the chair was in perfect condition. So I carefully took the studs out and cut out the Uppers and replaced the holes with Olive Green leather and nailed it back and made the slippers.

Back to my Archive photographs.
I won an Award with these Red Patent Shoes back in 1991 at the UK Shoe and Sock Awards run by the Council of the Society of Chiropodists. The Last Awards were in 1993, I think because major shoe manufactures in the UK were not winning any awards whereas lone Shoemakers like me were.
What is interesting about these shoes is that they are my original design with three layers of leather in the sole with no rubber soles protecting the leather from wear. The first layer is a soft leather that I still use in the shoes I make now. The second sandwiched layer is very soft and the third layer a harder leather used in conventional shoes. In the early 90's I changed the sole design to use two layers of leather which I protected from wear with a thin hard wearing rubber compound 2mm sole and a 5mm heel.

My full page A5 ad for the 2012 Aberaeron Tourist Guide