Final step for
HE has served the Govanhill community for more than 30 years... but now Gerry Fleming – aka The Cobbler – is shutting up shop.
Gerry, who says he “fell into” his career, has built up a loyal customer base in three decades on Calder Street.
And locals were dismayed when the news spread The Cobbler would be no more.
From chatting to regulars about current affairs and philosophy to carrying out some unusual repair requests, Gerry has made a name for himself locally – and further afield.
Irish dance shoes are sent to him from as far away as Australia due to his name as the best in the business.
But the 56-year-old is selftaught and has developed his trade over the years.
Gerry did a two-year engineering apprenticeship but decided there was little future in that path as the shipyards were going through dark times.
The South Side shop has been a cobblers for around 70 years and was previously owned by a Jewish man called Ben Silver who came to Glasgow after the Second World War.
Gerry said: “Myself and my brother happened to be passing one day and it was a big sign outside saying ‘For Rent’.
“Someone had taken over after Ben Silver left but they only lasted three months before deciding it wouldn’t be a goer so we took it over. That was that.”
He added: “We went to see the landlord, who’s a really good guy and now more like family than your landlord.
“When we came in here there was the original machine and the counter.
“The machine was goosed. No-one had ever seen fit to oil the damn thing because the bearings were all locked but it did us for a year before we could afford a new one.”
Gerry is renowned for going above and beyond to carry out repairs – “Except lights. I don’t know why people keep coming in with lights.”
I put one story to Gerry that I heard from a local customer – and it’s not fit for print – to which he replies with a smile, “That’s quite possible”.
One customer who stands out is a chap who came in with a highly unusual request.
Gerry said: “A guy wanted me to make him a threefingered glove. Let me put it this way, he had five fingers.
“So I made it, but I didn’t want to know.”
He also remembers the days of repairing waders for men filling in the mine works and repairing sewers around Govanhill.
He added: “You had to bleach your hands when you got home. They were rank. Still, it was worse for them,