The Cobbler G Interview: From Redundancy to Cobbling Excellence

Less than a decade into cobbling and Cobbler G is flying the flag for shoe recrafting and customization with true commitment to the craft.

James Smith

Working in this industry, I’m always looking into how clothes, shoes, and accessories are constructed. It helps me to discern what is worth featuring on Heddels, understand price points, and what to spend my own money on.

Around a year ago, my YouTube feed threw Cobbler G into the mix. It wasn’t the first cobbling content I’d watched, but there was something different about this channel. I found myself learning more about shoe construction from these videos than from any other content. Mark, who runs the channel, dedicates time to filming and explaining his processes, different shoe constructions, and often the unique stories behind the pairs he’s working on. His channel sees him tear down and rebuild Red Wings, Tricker’s, Aldens, and footwear from dozens of other manufacturers.

I also appreciated the fact that the channel is predominantly running out of a Timpson. Timpson is a British service retailer that offers key-cutting, dry-cleaning, and shoe repairs. There’s one in pretty much every sizable town — it’s a classic British high-street retailer that also gives back to the nation by offering employment prospects to prisoners and ex-convicts.

While Timpson does offer shoe repairs, most branches won’t have a cobbler as highly skilled as Mark on hand. But it was fascinating to see someone champion re-welting, re-soling, customization, and pretty much any project thrown his way. Someone dedicated to the art of recrafting footwear. Not even 10 years into the cobbling game, and Mark, AKA Cobbler G, is reaching high levels of shoe recrafting that have seen his YouTube channel gain serious traction — flying the flag for repairing, restoring, and maintaining quality goods.

I caught up with Cobbler G to find out about how he got into the craft, his journey with Timpson, and his aspirations for the future.

James (Heddels): Mark. How are you, man?

Mark (Cobbler G): I’m all good, man. Been really busy lately and had a lot of work on. But I’m alright!

H: Good to hear! I guess I’ll start by asking where you’re based? It’s clear from your videos that you’re Scottish, but where is your ‘HQ’, so to speak? 

M: I live in Fife, but my workshop is in Edinburgh. Rose Street, Edinburgh, to be precise – right in the city centre. It’s about an hour commute, but it’s just one bus, so it’s easy enough to get to.

H: Lovely. Edinburgh is such a beautiful city – that commute sounds killer, though

M: At first it was. It was a bit of a bitch, but I’m so used to it now. I use that hour to edit videos or plan out social media posts, etc. so I’ve found a way for the commute to help me rather than just scrolling on TikTok or Instagram.

H: And you’re currently based out of a Timpson, right? 

M: Yeah, I am.

H: Cool. For our readers outside of the UK, Timpson is a service retailer in the UK that is basically the go-to for key-cutting, dry cleaning, engraving, and things like that. Most branches do simple shoe repairs, but not complete recrafting like you offer. Is that right? 

M: Yes, correct,

H: Anyway, when and how did you get into cobbling? 

M: I started in 2018, and to be honest, mate, I just completely fell into it. I’m glad as well because it’s become such a huge part of my life and real passion. I’d never worked with my hands before, nothing like that. Doing woodwork in school – I hated it. Which is funny because my grandad was an amazing woodworker. He would carve these beautiful animal heads and stuff. So maybe I get a wee bit of that from him?

H: Maybe!

M: So, essentially, I was working at a photo shop within an ASDA. At first, I was part-time while studying audio engineering, but then after I graduated, I went full-time. After I went full-time, the photo shop got bought out by another company, and I ended up getting made redundant a few months later.

There was a Timpson inside the ASDA, and I’d gotten friendly with the guy who worked there. I never really knew much about what he did or really thought about it, to be honest. I just thought he cut keys. But when I was made redundant, I told him about it and he said he’d ask if there were any positions available. Two months went by, and then, out of the blue, I got a call from one of the Timpson managers asking if I wanted to come in for an interview.

Went for the interview, started a week later, got into the workshop, and started learning. That was back in 2018. At first, I thought, “I’ll take this job for now,” as I really needed some cash. But after a couple of weeks, I started really getting into it. Things definitely worked out for the best.

H: So, when you started at Timpson, did you learn about cobbling straight away, or did you start off with the basics like key-cutting, dry cleaning orders, etc?

M: So, essentially, when you start with them, you have a three-month apprenticeship where you work under another worker who teaches you the foundations. You learn your basic skills, which include a ‘shoe repair level 1’, and then you have skills tests. After that, you learn more and more as you go on in the job.

I was working in the ASDA-based Timpson for 2 weeks, but then they moved me to another shop in Dunfermline town, which is a bit nearer to me in Fife. The guy who was working in there, Stuart, was a 5th-generation cobbler and shoe repairer. His family has been repairing shoes since the late 1800s.

He basically taught me all the very basics – how to stick a heel on, sticky soles, stiletto heels – little jobs like that. We’re still mates now and he’s been a big part of the journey.

H: Wow! It’s great that you can find that kind of heritage in a high-street store in this day and age – even if it is just the basics of cobbling. So, how did you get to the level you’re at now?

M: After getting the basics down, I fell in love with the idea of re-crafting shoes. I pretty much taught myself all of the skills I use to re-craft and customize shoes by watching videos!

H: But I’m assuming the basic stuff you learned from the 5th generation cobbler, like welting, etc., and then went from there? 

M: Nope, no one in the area can re-welt, so I learned myself and just took it from there. To learn, I used videos from the likes of Bedo’s leatherworks. Steve over there is probably one of the best in the world at repairing and re-crafting, and a really nice guy. I started going to charity shops to buy cheap, Goodyear-welted shoes for like £5-£10, just to practice techniques on. Pairs of Loakes, etc. I’d rip them apart and see if I could rebuild them. That’s how I learned – through trial and error. Make mistakes, learn from them, and just keep getting better.

H: That’s amazing. Having done a fair bit of carpentry myself, I know that it can be hard to learn skills even with the myriad of YouTube videos out there. 

M: Yeah, well, the guy I learned under as an apprentice did say that I was picking up skills really quickly. I think I just have the hand-eye coordination for it, and it seems to come naturally, which is cool.

H: You definitely make it look easy in your videos. Especially when you stick the midsoles/outsoles on and trim them using that rotating trimmer with a hand crank. I bet it’s super hard. 

M: Ha, yeah! That’s called a Ranger. Hand-eye coordination doesn’t actually matter too much on that, as you sand/finish the soles after. You do have to be careful, though, as you can over-trim and cut through the welt if you don’t do it correctly.

H: So basically, you were in a crappy situation when you were made redundant. Timpson’s threw you a bone, and you picked things up really quickly on the cobbling front. How long was it before you were taking on more complex cobbling jobs from walk-in customers? 

M: Well, for a while, I was working between different Timpson branches, and to be honest, most of the jobs were super simple. Old ladies coming in needing a heel stuck on a shoe, things like that. The shops often had quiet periods, so I would use that time to hone my craft.

I got better and better and actually ended up leaving Timpson temporarily, moving to an independent workshop in 2021. You will see this in some of my videos from around that time. Sadly, that didn’t work out at all.

H: Sorry to hear that, but I see you’re back at Timpson and going stronger than ever. When did you establish the YouTube channel? 

M: Yeah, Timpson has been great. I’ve since become the shoe-restoration expert for Scotland, which is brilliant.

I think I uploaded my first video in 2020. I watched a few videos of this guy, Brian the Bootmaker, and thought, ‘I can do that. I could do that’.  I had a bit of knowledge in video editing from when I used to edit rollerblading videos as a teen, and also, my family were always asking “what do you actually do at work?”.

So I thought I’d start videoing my shoe repairs so I could document them and show my family. I honestly had no aspirations that it would turn into what it is now, so it’s really cool that it’s taken off.

H: How long was it before the channel took off? 

M: It’s funny because at the start of the year I only had 6,000 subscribers, so it’s only really kicked off in the last 6 months! I made a TikTok account earlier in the year, which shot up to 30k subscribers after only 6-7 weeks. So when YouTube extended their shorts to 2 minutes, I basically imported all of my videos from TikTok to YouTube and started getting thousands of subscribers, millions of views. It was all really quick.

H: The power of the short! Do you find that the YouTube channel has given you even more motivation to continue on this path? 

Yeah, I love long-form content, though, and I’m committed to the long videos that show the process of recrafting or customizing.

The channel has definitely made me want to learn more and be able to show more techniques. You’re showing your work to a lot of people. It’s given me more motivation to really hone in on my craft and do things correctly – the traditional way. There are a lot of cowboy cobblers doing some pretty bad work.

I just want to get better and better at using traditional methods but with a modern twist — new soles, new ways of customization. The more the channel grows, the more I get projects mailed to me from viewers, which is really fun.

H: Yeah, you’re exhibiting the power of recrafting/customizing footwear to thousands of people. There’s something about that process that you can’t get at retail, isn’t there? You could buy a $1k pair of boots, really well constructed, amazing leather, but there’s just something about the act of a re-sole or rebuild that just makes a pair really special.

M: Yep. Nothing better than a used upper, full of patina and scuffs and scars, but with a brand new sole on it. I absolutely prefer a used boot that’s been resoled over a brand-new boot. For example, Red Wings. I love all of their models, but only when they’re broken in and full of patina.

H: Speaking of brands, you always comment on the quality of construction (or lack of) in your videos. For example, you re-soled those Visvim boots and said they were built really well. Are there any footwear brands that stand out to you as having a really good price-to-quality ratio? 

M: Yeah, they were built really well, but I still wouldn’t say they’re worth the price point. For me, a brand to keep an eye on in terms of price-to-quality ratio would be Thursday Boot Company. For the price, they’re making really solid boots. Full leather construction, leather footbeds, decent soles, and a few ranges of designs. For the price point, it’s quite rare to see leather on those internal, invisible details.

Loake is one of my favorites for the price point they’re at. The uppers last, and the designs are nice. My only criticism of them would be their use of fiberboard in the construction – on the midsoles, inside heel blocks, etc. These things get wet and swell, and just don’t last as long as leather. But still, for the price point, Loakes are decent. I worked on a pair of Cheaneys the other week, which had fiberboard midsoles, and they’re double the price.

H: Learning about these things is really useful for someone like me who is always interrogating the quality of footwear. I recently learned about ‘gemming’ from one of your Red Wing videos. I love that word. 

M: It’s a very random word, ay? The gemming is just a piece of canvas that wraps around the footbed, normally stapled to the side of the shoe, and that’s what the makers stitch the welts through. Red Wing’s gemming can become a bit of a problem on some pairs, but they still make fantastic boots.

H: I guess there are differences in the priorities of manufacturers and cobblers when it comes to materials and quality. Most manufacturers need to make certain amounts for wholesale commitments, etc. 

M: I often find that cobblers use higher-grade materials. I use German leather that’s been tanned in pits for over a year, so it’s nice and water-resistant. It’s worth it because it just means rebuilds and customizations last longer.

H: Back to the channel, how far do you want to take things? Do you see yourself going completely independent one day? 

M: Definitely. I’d love to grow the channel, it’s going really well at the moment, and eventually open my own workshop/YouTube studio where I could take mail-ins from all over the world as well as walk-ins, etc.

H: That sounds awesome. How much would it cost to set up something like that? I.e., the big machine with the rotating wheels that sands and trims things down?

M: That’s called a finisher. You can actually buy those second-hand fairly cheap, like a few thousand pounds. I think the one I use in my videos is from the 50s! They’re serviceable, too. We have a great guy on our area team who has been doing shoe repair since he was 16. He’s now 60, and he knows how to completely strip down machines and rebuild them. Standard Engineering supplies all of our other machines, but when it comes to Goodyear welting machines, they tend to just refurbish old machines. Maybe put a new casing on, service the inside.

H: Kind of like the raw denim niche then, whereby old machines are king?

M: You can’t beat the stuff from back then. They were built to last, and the engineering that went into them is just insane. When you look at all the wee cogs that go into them. Keeping them alive is defintely worth it.

H: I guess it is a shame that we don’t have access to new, affordable machines to make this stuff more accessible, though.

M: Yeah, but if they made them now, they’d be horrible. The old ones just have a look and feel that can’t be replicated now.

H: Speaking of accessibility, why do you think the world of cobbling and shoe craft isn’t seen as an attractive career? When you consider the number of people who get into trades, and then how many people want to work with products like shoes, it’s interesting that the study of cobbling hasn’t taken off in the same way as, say, pattern cutting or tailoring. It feels like a way to get into a realm that involves skill, fashion, and design to a degree, and sustainability.

M: It’s a tough one. There’s been a lot of decline in shoe repair since the 90s, when the market got flooded with cheap shoes. You know, stuff you can pick up super cheap, wear for around 6 months, and just replace them. That became the culture: fast fashion. You still had die-hard shoe enthusiasts or people who appreciate quality, but they’re in the minority. The thing is, back in the day, all shoes were designed to be recraftable. A lot of that has been completely lost in the last 30 years, if you think about the rise of sneaker culture and, yeah, just fast fashion in general.

However, I do think there is a resurgence. I am noticing a lot of younger people coming in with quality footwear who are looking to repair, customize, or just breathe new life into their boots or shoes. I actually think that’s one of the coolest things about cobbling – it’s realising someone’s vision that’s completely unique to them. It’s like wearable art – you can completely change the silhouette of the shoe if you have a good cobbler and a solid vision.

H: For sure. I saw the custom rebuild you did with the rainbow stitching.

M: Controversial stitch, that was, judging by the comments!

H: What’s your footwear of choice? What does a cobbler choose to wear to work? 

M: I wear Florsheim imperials. I got them on eBay for £9 and rebuilt them!

H: So now you’re a cobbling maestro, is there any rebuilding techniques you can’t do? Are you restricted by a lack of machinery or anything? 

M: Nope, I can pretty much do anything. There are some processes I haven’t done yet, but most of the skills I’ve learned are transferable to other parts of the industry. Obviously, I can’t make uppers, cut leather, or build an upper – that’s not something I can do, as that’s not really a cobbler’s job. There are dozens of steps that go into making a pair of shoes. Even when I completely tear down a pair, the upper is still there. I’d love to give that stuff a go one day.

H: And lastly, what are some of the most memorable experiences you’ve had while running the channel?

M: I had a subscriber from Canada, who was at a work conference in London, and had a few extra days to kill before going home. He decided to fly up to Scotland for 1 day and 1 night to bring me a pair of Alden Shell Cordovan Boots to recraft. He’d been watching the channel since the beginning and uses cobblers all over Canada— a huge shoe enthusiast!

Also, I had a customer with 2 Florsheim Imperial shoes, one modern, one vintage. He was from the USA and visiting his son. and he decided to bring over both pairs for me to do, it was during the major storm we had and i had to close the shop on one of the two days I had to restore them, so I had 8 hours to recraft both pairs before he needed to leave for the airport! It was tight but I managed it! That video is on YouTube, too.

H: Mark, it’s been great chatting with you. Thanks for taking the time to chat with Heddels and keep on doing what you’re doing. It’s great to see the process of repairing and sustaining quality footwear getting the limelight it deserves, especially on a channel like YouTube that has so much bubblegum content. People are clearly digging it.

M: No, thank you! It’s been a real pleasure. Let’s keep in touch.

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