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Norman Walsh was born in Bolton in Lancashire in 1931. At the age of fourteen Norman followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a cobbler at the legendary local firm of Foster & Co, creators of the very first running shoe back in 1898. Norman’s skill as a shoemaker was instantly recognised and he was personally tasked with making the track spikes for the Great Britain team for the 1948 Olympic Games. Six years later it was Norman who made the shoes worn Roger Bannister when he ran the world’s first sub-four-minute mile at the Iffley Road track in Oxford propelling him to near mythical status as a maker of sporting shoes. In 1961 he left Foster & Co and set up under his own name in a quiet side street in Bolton.

Walsh are today most famous for their fell and trail running shoes. The Walsh PB, originally designed in 1970 and named after famed British fell runner Pete Bland, remains legendary in the sporting shoe world to this day. They still manufacture every shoe that bears their name in their small factory in a quiet backstreet in Bolton, and export them all over the world.

The Community Clothing X Walsh shoes for Community Clothing are a reworking of a classic 1980’s running shoe from the extensive Walsh Archive. It is called the Beacon, after Beacon Fell a popular Lancashire landmark.