The left of the pair. Brown leather, size ten, laces tied, same layby on the A629 near Denby Dale, same morning, set neatly alongside its partner with the sides near enough touching. The circumstances are set out under number 198 and I won't go over them twice — the register doesn't repeat itself and neither do I. But the left shoe is its own entry and it got its own looking-at, which the notebook confirms: wear even across the sole, a touch more scuffing at the outside edge than the right carried, and the lace tied in the same manner. That's observation of the shoe, not a theory about it, and it went down as such.
What belongs to this entry and this entry alone: Barry drove over from Dewsbury the Sunday after to see them for himself. He stood looking a good while, walked round them once, and agreed there were nowt to add, which from Barry is a full endorsement. Some folk have since asked whether a pair still counts. It counts as two entries, and Barry and me were of one mind on that in the layby without either of us needing to say much about it.
The drizzle eased off towards eleven, and I finished the flask in the layby before I left. Number 199. For everything else, see 198.
Written up August 2026, from the notebook.