vegan	materials	cobblers	jackets	hemp	discussion
vegan recipes	shops	links			German

This site is moving to animal.nu . As well as a more memorable name, there should be a chance for readers to post comments on each entry and an integrated version of the veggie recipe search engine that's on veganline.com at the moment. There will be a discussion forum and a calander for people to post events in and - well: isn't that enough? The setting-up of the site has been done with a programme called Wordpress, including a control panel for the editor to update the content. The work would suit someone with an hour or so a week of time and internet connection to spare, with an ability to learn how to use software and a manic researcher's abliity to accumulate and organise vegan information from web and other sources, such as vegan magazines and reference books.

Listed cobblers stock vegan upper material - most shoe repair shops can replace soles of sewn-together shoes like DMs or order the upper material from a vegan shoe shop, but it's expensive at several tenners a meter.

A small proportion of repair shops would make you a pair of shoes with the unmechanised "bench" method, and those that do charge for two day's work. Lobb of St.James should get a prize for charging £1,500 a pair - "I suspect more than you anticipated" said their very polite fax. That's less than the cost of a proper shoe making machine at a factory auction. Other cobblers are cheaper: Tony's of Fulham (London) make the same classic brogues for £150 or £200.

BABOUCHA 218 High St, Harts EN5 5SZ, 0181 441 3788. Please ring for a quotation on made to measure shoes or bags in any material you like, including orthopaedic, height, fetish, vegan, sample or historical reproduction shoes. Prices are high.

FRANCIS & REEVES 812b Ecclesall Rd, Banner Cross, Sheffield S11 8TD. 0114 268 2329. made to order boots & shoes in folk styles. To get any measure of value for shoes over £100, you'd need to visit for two fittings. Or, spend £60 on shoes and give £40 away.

FREERANGERS are mail-order made to order only. 01661 831781, fax 01661 830317. They stitch together some basic shoes for £64 in leather (trading as Simpleway) or microfibre. Send-in the length of your foot and circumference at the ball if you want, for example, different sized shoes for a five pound surcharge.

GREEN SHOES Station Rd, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5HW, UK 01803 864 997 do several boots and shoes in 2 mm Lorica. For a price they offer a lot of choice on colour, width or sole made to order, mail order but not wholesale. Their website works on the excellent principal of offering free information to encourage visitors - to a green events calender in this case.

LYME LEISURE is a small family run general shoeshop and shoe repair service that I believe you have not included. Their prices are the best, from about 9.99 to 29.99. Terry, who manages the shop and does all the shoe repairs, is a vegan and he ensures that all the shoe repairs are 100% vegan - a fact which he guarantees. LL sell some standard non-leather shoes mail-order, or if you call at the shop they have some of the Ethical Wares range too. The web site has now closed, but you may find the address of the shop on the web.

PUG / THE PICTURE SHOE CO may be at The White Cottage Courtyard, Magdalene St, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9EH, UK 01458 834 356. Under their previous name of Adams & Jones, they were wholesale, mail-order and mto and repair cobblers who use breathable material for 12 sandals under £50 and 18 boots & shoes under £60. Some might look OK in the ex-service club; others are excellent pinks, purples, reds and any colour that isn't beige. The workshop seems to close when Rik Jones goes to festivals, but some are stocked by a separate firm of the same name at 2 High St. Buy in person, rather than sending money in advance, and e-mail me for a reference if buying in bulk. Apologies may be due if this is not the same firm.

FOOTWEAR FOR SPECIAL NEEDS is a list of nearly 100 cobblers and suppliers at three pounds from 5 Portland Place, London WAN 3NA - The British Footwear Association. Most charge nearly a hundred pounds for unusual fittings or hospital visits and would not know where to get vegan breathable uppers. As I said at the top, the answer is to ring vegan shoe shops.

There are three workshops making ballet shoes in the UK, which you can track down from Kelly's directory pages. At the time of writing (05/03) none has a web site, but one of them is aware of the vegetarian ballet shoe maket and can make a pair on 6-8 weeks' notice. They sell through a shop in London on 0207 935 6049. The firm is called Gandolfi.