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A 1964 advertisement for Bemroses the shoe shop deploys a neat pun to promote their 'fitting service'.

Countless once well-known shops in Derby have closed over the years, now consigned to the category of 'retail heritage'.

One such was BEMROSE SHOES, who in the 1950s traded from 28 and 34 St. Peter's Churchyard, before moving in the early 1960s to 14-16 The Strand. It was very much the place to go for children's footwear in particular, as they took great care in measuring the feet in order to supply exactly the right fit for bones which were still growing.

The procedure was conducted with an air of almost medical precision. The standard device was a wooden measuring tool on which the foot was placed - it had marked graduations and sliding parts which were moved to enclose the foot from tip to heel and side to side, thus producing both an accurate length and width. There were five designated widths, from 'very slim' to 'extra wide'. My memory of the procedure beyond that is hazy, but I believe the device may have incorporated a tape measure which was run over the top of the foot to measure its height!

The more exotic device, and rather more exciting, was a sort of X-ray machine - the child stood on a platform not dissimilar to a weighing scales, and the sales assistant looked down a viewfinder at the top of the machine to gain a view of the feet.

Surely it couldn't have been a real X-ray machine, although many a child believed it was.

A particularly popular brand of shoe was Startrite - countless Derby children enjoyed what became an almost ritual visit to Bemroses to be given their annual bespoke fitting of winter 'lace-ups' and summer sandals.

Could you expand on this short piece? Perhaps you remember shopping or working at Bemroses. Just click on the 'edit' link to add your memories.

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County:  Derbyshire

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