When I was writing The Cobbler’s Apprentice, a small cobbler shop I remembered from childhood, came to mind. It was known as ‘Eggaford’s’. I’ve no idea who the family who
owned it was, but it was one of only a few cobbler shops in the town at that time during the seventies.
Visiting Eggaford’s with my mother when she dropped off any shoes for repair, caused me to inhale the evocative smells of leather and shoe dye. To this day, I still love the smell of leather. If I close my eyes, I can conjure up the aroma of my new leather school satchel that we purchased there when I moved up to the big school.
The shop was on a different level to the street. Upon entering, it was necessary to take a few steps down to get to the counter, where two men were busy at work there. I wonder now, in light of my story, if one of them was some sort of apprentice to the other.
I have a family connection to the building (adjacent to the Parish Church mentioned in the workhouse series of books.) The entire premises was once known as Three Salmons Inn, a coaching inn where people slept on beds of hay. It was owned by Edmund Harman who was my 4 X great grandfather’s brother. Edmund was a wealthy man who owned various properties in the area and a plaque was erected to him at the side of Eggaford’s describing him as ‘gentleman of the town.’ 
