Did those lucky Leicester lads unwrapping ‘Dan Dare football boots’ on Christmas morning in the 1950s know their prized kicks were made just up the road in Anstey, Leicestershire?
It all started in the early 1890s with George Harry Palmer, a determined shoemaker who set out at 5:30am each day, samples in hand, and returned home late at night, orders in his pocket and feet sore from trekking across Anstey Gorse. With the help of his wife and two sons, George built a family business crafting children’s shoes — a legacy that would last decades.
The Stadon Road factory eventually closed its doors in 1975, but the story of those locally made boots lives on.
Gary Freestone- Leicester 50 Years Ago