Cobbler’s store picture sparked fond memories
William was born above Lambert’s shop
The memories came flooding back for a Paisley man after we published a historic picture of a longestablished cobbler’s shop.
Our picture showed Lambert Bros, of 7 Seedhill Road, just before it was due to be bulldozed to make way for a new development in 1977.
“We are sticking to the last” was the defiant sign handwritten on a window board.
And when reader William McKay, 82, saw the photograph, he got in touch,
“I was born at 7 Seedhill Road, above that shop,” he said. “This sparked great memories.
“As far as the Lambert Brothers were concerned, there were three brothers, Jimmy, John and Hughie. “Jimmy had only one arm. “He worked in the front shop, and he was the one who parcelled up the shoes in brown paper and string – a feat he did with ease, despite only have one arm.
“How he did it, used to amaze me as a kid.
“The other two brothers were very keen cyclists and at that time they had Italian bikes that they used to leave round the back of the shop.
“As a wee boy, I was always getting a row for playing with them.
“So much so, that when I joined Hawkhead Bowling Club many, many years later, where the three brothers were members, they immediately recognised me when I said my name.”
Mr McKay remembers Lambert Bros as a very busy shop.
“To me, the machinery was very modern,” he said.
“It was in two halves. The front was the counter and the shoes they were repairing were lying there.
“The back of the shop was the machine shop where they did all of the repair stuff.
“How long they had been going as a business, I really don’t know.”
It’s not difficult for Mr McKay, a former engineer, to summon up memories of the old shop.
“Today, I live across the road from Seedhill Road,” he said.
“When I saw that picture in the Express, it took me right back.”