Stuart at work put me onto this one. He mentioned it on the Tuesday — said he'd passed it twice on his delivery rounds, a trainer on the grass by Salendine Nook chapel, and he'd thought of me. I took that kindly at the time and I take it kindly now. When a man sees a lone shoe and his first thought is you, that's a form of respect, whatever else it might be.
I confirmed it the Saturday, as the rule requires. Left trainer, blue, on the grass by the chapel, and still exactly where Stuart had described it, which speaks well of Salendine Nook. Laces in, and tied in a double knot — you don't often see a double knot in the register and the notebook flags it. The sole were worn even, heel and toe alike, so a walker's shoe by my reckoning. How a walker's shoe with a double knot comes to be on the grass by a chapel is a question I don't ask, because that's not the point of what I do, and I'd remind any reader of the same before they write in.
Overcast and dry, a nothing sort of day weather-wise, which suited the job. Photographs came out fine. I reported back to Stuart on the Monday — confirmed, entered, number 273 — and he seemed pleased in his way, which at the merchant's means he nodded and got on with the delivery notes. That's the building trade for you. It were his first submission and to date his only one, but a man who's given the register one good trainer has done more than most.
Written up August 2026, from the notebook.