The Boot

A few weeks ago, whilst taking our usual walk along the Lakeside Walk at Trentham Gardens we came across a boot, just sitting at the side of the path by a way marker post. It was old, worn, torn, its lace was missing and on closer inspection the sole of the boot was full of holes some from constant use and other smaller ones from the loss of studs.

We guessed that it must be an army issue, rough terrain, boot probably from the 2nd World War and given that during that time there was a military presence at Trentham as well as it being a prisoner of war camp and the base for the Bank of England it didn't seem such a strange thing to find. Of course, there were lots of other questions like, who had found it and placed it near the edge of the path when it had obviously been buried or hidden for years and years? Who had worn it? What had happened to them? Did they survive the war? I suppose one could weave a whole story about the loss of the boot or even about the finding of it. We left the boot where it was because it seemed the best thing to do. When we went round the walk last weekend we looked for the boot; it wasn't where we had seen it but then, who could have expected it to be? We found it further along on one of the brick foundations of the old Nissan huts, in two pieces, the heel at one end and the toe at the other. I expect next time we take that walk it will have disappeared completely.