Research Trip to Northampton, the Footwear Capital

Prescott & Mackay 'Made in Britain' Factory Tour Series: Research trip to Northampton, The Footwear Capital: Church’s, The Shoe Exhibition at Northampton Museums and Art Gallery and Institute for Creative Leather Technologies.

This unique factory tour provides you with the opportunity to explore the legendary craftsmanship of the UK's leading area for the production of fine quality footwear.

Northampton has been long established for generations as the proud British footwear capital and the tour will cover different aspects of the industry in the city and to areas not commonly accessible to the general public, making this great opportunity a unique experience, not to be missed.

Schedule:

9.15am: Students are welcomed by our tutor at Northampton station.

9.30pm -12.15pm: Church’s Factory.

Church’s story starts back in 1675, when Stone Church was born, who then was trained as a cordwainer or master shoemaker. The first factory was opened in Northampon by his descendents in 1873, and within a few years became well known for it's high quality footwear in the UK but also across Europe. By 1907, Church’s was also exporting to Canada and the USA. In 1999 the company joined Prada, the leader luxury design brand, which operates internationally.

Now, as in the past, it takes up to eight weeks to produce a pair of Church’s shoes, each undergoing over 250 detailed manual operations before leaving the factory. 100% of Church’s men’s welted shoes are manufactured in Northampton.

The visit will cover:

• Show room: Northampton and Church’s History.
• Leather room: different areas and skin treatment.
• Design room: design methods and how Church’s keeps its identity.
• Clicking room and prep: design and cost efficiency, lining writing, showing line marking skiving and perforating.
• The making room: analysing all the jobs made in one of the most important areas of the factory.
• Finishing room: the process of attaching a heel.
• Shoe room: the last part of the chain production.
• Show room: questions and firewall.

12.15am-1pm: Lunch break.

1pm- 2.30pm: The Shoe Exhibition at Northampton Museums and Art Gallery.

Northampton Museums and Art Gallery have the largest collection of shoes and boots in the world.

Students will get the opportunity to visit the Shoe Store archive, which contains approximately 11,000 shoes covering such dates and topics as medieval and Tudor footwear, concealed shoes and fashion footwear from 1600 up to the modern day. The collection is complemented with other pieces which, include tools, machinery and accessories such as buckles, laces etc.

An expert from the museum will also bring additional material and speak about the historical context of the collection and its scope, as well as explaining the story behind Northampton’s conversion into a Shoe Town. There will be time to look at the material on display, to browse within the racks in the store and to ask questions.

3pm-5pm: Institute for Creative Leather Technologies.

The institute delivers long-term educational programs in leather technologies, which are recognised internationally. The institution also has a research team, covering many aspects of leather manufacture, science and chemistry. Along with the director of the institute, students will visit the installations, which includes its own tannery.

The visit ends at approximately 5 pm.