Life and Sole: Celebrating Northamptonshire's shoemaking heritage through food

Events
Written By Lynne Dickens

One of our Forum members, Jeyes of Earls Barton, has launched a unique new menu celebrating Northamptonshire's world-famous boot and shoe heritage as part of this June's Northamptonshire Food and Drink Week.

Members of the Northamptonshire food and drink industry with Anna and Philippa Jeyes and some of the dishes

The specially created ‘Life and Sole’ Menu has been developed in partnership with local producers Northampton Cheese Company and Phipps NBC Brewery, bringing together some of the county's finest food and drink with stories from its industrial past.

Available throughout the summer in the Apothecoffee Shop at Jeyes, the menu takes inspiration from Northamptonshire's shoemaking history, with dishes named after traditional tools, trades and occupations associated with the boot and shoe industry.

Among the highlights are the Clickers Ploughmans, featuring Northamptonshire-made Clickers Cheese served with pastrami, gherkins, piccalilli and artisan bread, and the Red Skyver and BBQ Pulled Pork Jacket Potato, inspired by the ‘skyver’ tool used by shoemakers to reduce the thickness of leather when making boots and shoes.

Visitors can also enjoy the Cordwainer Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad, named after the skilled shoemakers who crafted fine footwear from new leather, and the Phipps Firkin Toastie, which combines local cheese with Phipps beer-infused flavours and celebrates Northampton's long brewing tradition.

To finish, there is a traditional Northamptonshire Cheesecake, a regional delicacy with roots stretching back centuries and reflecting the county's rich culinary heritage.

The menu has been created to showcase not only Northamptonshire's food and drink producers but also the stories and skills that helped make the county internationally renowned as the centre of Britain's shoe industry.

“Every shoe tells a story.”

As the menu explains:

"In Northamptonshire, every shoe tells a story, and every plate on our menu celebrates the craftsmanship that has shaped the soul and sole of the county."

Visitors interested in learning more about the county's shoemaking heritage can also explore Jeyes' Life and Sole exhibition, which tells the story of Northamptonshire's boot and shoe industry and its lasting impact on the county.

The Northamptonshire Heritage Forum is delighted to see local heritage, food, drink and businesses coming together in such a creative way to celebrate one of the defining chapters of Northamptonshire's history.

Lynne Dickens

Lynne is currently a part-time freelance website designer and marketer. Formerly trading full-time as Spot On Creative is a Northants-based creative team who have the hard-earned skills, expertise and industry knowledge that only come from having worked for years in advertising. It was all managed by Lynne Dickens who has over 20 years’ experience in marketing communications, and ten years in website design and build, and creative team project management.

Lynne is also a qualified art historian and has some expertise in curating fine art exhibitions and producing all of the catalogues, posters and supporting material to create a successful event.

All the guys in the team have worked for one-man bands, SMEs and large blue-chip multinationals in just about every sector, field and industry. Collectively, we can come up with great ideas, superb design and copy, and exceptional photography for anything from websites to email campaigns, branding to brochures – and everything in between.

And the beauty of Spot On Creative is that we’re big in creativity, experience and knowledge, but small in overheads and invoices. So we’re a much more sensible and affordable option for you than a larger advertising agency or marketing company.

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