With all the interest in heritage brands and sneakers these days, I’m surprised there aren’t more articles about Norman Walsh. They’re the last British-owned sneaker company still producing in the UK. I recently picked up a pair of their blue and white Ensign running shoes. Originally designed for the Bolton Harriers to compete in the 1981 New York Marathon, they have that retro runner feel I’ve been enjoying so much (aka NarcDad shoes, for those who remember).
Like the Harrier club, Norman Walsh is located in Bolton, which used to be a large textile production center before Britain lost most of its cotton industry. It’s also the birthplace of running shoes. Back in the 1890s, the town’s J.W. Foster & Sons (which would later become Reebok) developed the style by stripping away cricket shoes to make them more agile, and then adding spikes for traction. Norman Walsh himself served as an apprentice here before starting his own label in 1961.
Fifty-five years later, his company remains. Their shoes are much beloved by British trail and fell runners – the latter being a term for people who race up hills (which, to be honest, sounds like a sport invented by a couple of fun-loving, drunk Brits). Along with athletic shoes, they also have a range of casual styles for people who like to wear their runners off the trails.
The nice thing about retro runners is that they’re not as stark as Common Projects, but they’re also reasonably versatile. I think of them as a way to add bit of playfulness and cheer to whatever you’re wearing. Pair them with jeans and a topcoat like Jake from the Armoury, or with a chambray shirt and field jacket when it’s warm.
At the moment, Kafka and Simon Carter have some Ensigns on sale. Norman Walsh also sells them direct, either as stock models or through a “design it yourself” custom program. Not all the colors in the stock inventory are to my taste, but I like my blue-white ones below (they’re a modified version of these shoes, where part of the heel counter is black instead of white). And if it helps to know, I find these run true to size.
