Walkleys clogs are usually made for heavy manual working or - well - walking in. They have machine made soles, not generally that curved. You need special curved soles for clog dancing - a good clog maker would hand-make those. Horses for courses I guess.

The usual type of clogs seen in old photgraphs, perhaps in the Hulton Collection, have really strong thick soles. I am thinking of those worn by coal miners, dock workers, cotton-mill workers, etc. These would also have irons on the soles (like horse shoes). The loud 'clattering' of clogs on the cobbled streets of the Lancashire mill towns as the workers clomped to work was frequently remarked upon in articles about everyday life in the kate 1800s. The term 'clogged up' originates from those streets being 'clogged up' by all the clog wearing workers going to/from the factories.

I have seen old English clogs in the Immigrant Museum on Ellis Island, in various museums in New Zealand, and Tony Barrand tells me that there are some in the museum at Salem in New England. There are also reports of old clogs (maybe home made) in museums in Southern Ireland - but I have not seen them.

Actually eBay.co.uk is an interesting resource for photos of old clogs under the Antiques section. A search for 'wooden shoes' or 'wooden clogs' usually lists some amazing old ones. I am continuously amazed when I post information about this to various mailing lists, e.g. morris@listserv.iupui.edu , where clog maker par excellance Trefor Owen can invariably identify the date, style and maker, and other interesting details.

But dancing clogs were different. They were lighter. Frequently decorated with 'tooling' patterns. They were even coloured. They were for show. They might have been worn for church as Sunday best. There are few makers of step dancing clogs. Trefor Owen is one of the last.

This reminds me some years ago I met a guy Neil / Neal Standring (?) who used to own the old watermill up stream of Sidmouth. He used to tour the old clog makers shops in the North and take photographs of the old clogs left uncollected in the backrooms. Some of these had pointed toes curving upwards and he opined that these were clearly for performing on stage with.

Unfortuntely the mill got flooded out one winter, and Neil / Neal lost all of the photos. I wonder if anyone else has any photos of the old-style dancing clogs?

Tony Barrand himself has some interesting stage dancing clogs from America. These seem to be different from those in England. They were more like conventional shoes but with wooden soles. The soles were invariably split along the instep making them flex more. It would not be possible to dance right up on the toes with these, whereas with Englsh clogs you can. I guess the American version(s) were the forerunners of tap shoes.

lye makerOWN CAN