Workbench

As London shoe manufacturing began to shift to provincial centres in the late Victorian period, the shoe repair trade continued to flourish in London. Skilled shoe repairers established workshops in high streets and undertook the stitching and repair of broken 'uppers' as well as the replacement of leather soles and heels.

Sydney Sanders used this workbench and chair in his shoe repair shop on the Goldhawk Road in Shepherd's Bush. Sanders' grandfather William established the family boot making and repair business in 1897. Sydney joined his father and brothers working in the shop when he was 14. The business closed in 1999 when Sydney passed away.