By Fiona Davies, October 2024

Having watched the BBC Repair Shop many a time, I had always thought of applying to have my father’s, Richard Davies, step dancing boots repaired.

Some of you know I dance in them on special occasions. Yes, we had the same size feet! When he was alive he would dance in them, when he finished he’d take them off and hand them to me to put on and I’d dance in them.

The boots are flat soled leather Chelsea boots, acquired from a boot maker from Northampton at the Norfolk Show in the 1960’s. He was obviously dad’s favourite boot maker as he had a few pairs of these boots. Chelsea boots were commonly worn by Cromer fishermen for best. They all came with heel plates to protect the heels from wear. As a child I would always hear the fishermen approaching before I saw them. They always had a comforting clicking sound as the heel plates hit the concrete of the pavement. It was the same with the step dancing as the heel plates hit the pamment tiles or wooden floor boards, each making their own individual sound.

My Father being the individual that he was, he always liked to be different, added extra flat pieces of metal to the toe end of the soles of his boots. These boots were solely used for his step dancing. By the time I acquired them they had definitely seen life and were used to perform in many places in East Anglia.

The elasticated side panels were frayed and loose, the leather was worn, cracked in places, the insoles had gone and the stitching on the soles was broken and missing in places. I still wanted to dance in them. I have tap shoes that I use but I always feel my dad’s spirit when dancing in his boots. 

After years of saying I was going to apply for The Repair Shop, I finally did it in January 2024. After filling in an online form on their website and submitting some photos of the boots, they were in touch within two weeks. One of the programme researchers contacted me to ask me more questions about the boots and their history. I then had a recorded online interview with the researcher to see if the producers thought the boots, their story and step dancing would make for good T.V. Of course it does. Over the next week I shared more photos & videos of my family dancing, which included the late 70’s/early 80’s video that is on YouTube. I think that video has been taken down at the moment as the BBC will be using it for the programme. After the recorded interview I was invited down to The Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex to film the programme.

It all happened within a month of applying  and filming was all done within a week. The first time, dropping the boots off, I was on my own. I had to be there 9:30 am – thankfully they put me up in a hotel, as the journey took me 6hrs. I was met at the gates by one of the crew and taken to a Portakabin dressing room. I was made to feel very welcome and was given a run down in what was going to happen from the director. The weather wasn’t the best that week with it raining all week & the walk in filming took a few takes, thankfully they had an umbrella on hand. I hadn’t been told who was going to be the other side of the door, I was expecting Jay Blades, it was Dominic Chinea and the shoe specialist Dean Westmoreland.

The director hadn’t told them anything about the boots, so they had no idea what to expect. I’m always nervous when it comes to being on T.V, But the cast were so nice and welcoming, it made for a pleasant experience.

Then another 6 hours home and back 2 days later to pick them up. This time I wasn’t alone. The programme wanted me to use recorded music, however I told them that’s not traditional. I asked one of my best friends, Simon Care who is a fantastic melodeon player, if he was free that day and he was. I’ve known Simon for over 20 years, I’ve often danced with him & he has played for a number of my workshops. He has said to me before “Fiona, I love playing for you, as I don’t have to listen to you” -I take that as a compliment.

He used to like playing for my dad too, along with our mutual good friend Gareth Turner, who sadly passed away last year. Simon brought with him one of Gareth’s melodeons to play for me that day, which made the day even more emotional.

After filming the walk in for the pick up, another very wet day, it was the reveal and a demonstration of East Anglian/Norfolk step dancing. Dean has done an amazing job on the restoration of the boots.

They are now no longer falling apart and I can dance in them for as many years as my arthritis will allow. The leather has been replenished, the soles tacked with small nails, insoles added and the elastic side panels replaced. They filmed me putting the boots on but I don’t think that will be added as I got cramp as they are now tight to get on. I still haven’t been given a date for when it will be aired, but as soon as I know, it will be put up on the EATMT website & social media.

In other news, I have moved. I am now living in Scotland, near Edinburgh. There’s more opportunities for my work up here. However, I will still be involved with the EATMT and FolkEast. I shall be planning family visits around events especially in the Summer months.