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The Register — 2025
20 entries, #289 to #308 · transcribed from the notebook
Transcribing 2025 now and it reads like a year with its feet up, which suits me. Twenty shoes, no great distances bar one run over to Baitings on a report, and the classics doing what the classics do — Castle Hill, the canal, and the Marsden gateway again, sixteen years on, which I'll not go on about here because I said what I had to say in the entry. The pen I'd had since 2022 ran out in June and the notebook goes faint for half a page where I finished in pencil. You can still read it, just. I bought two of the same pen after that, one for the bag and one for the drawer. After the year before, with all the correspondence and the tip-offs coming in, it were nice to have a stretch where the register just carried on. That's the whole point of a register, in my view. It carries on. Our Linda kept the sandwiches up. Nowt else to add.
#289
11 January 2025 · Right trainer, black
Castle Hill, Almondbury
Right trainer, black, laces still in and tied, which you don't often get. On the grass verge by the path up from Lumb Lane. Hard frost overnight and the trainer had a rime on it that the sun took off while I sat there. Flask conditions very good. Cheese and pickle. First of the year and a decent start to it. Photograph came out well enough, for once.
#290
2 February 2025 · Left boot, tan, work sort
Canal towpath, Milnsbridge
Left boot, tan, the work sort, steel toe by the look of the shape of it. I didn't lift it to check. You can't interfere. It were on its side under the bridge at Milnsbridge, dry despite the rain, which is the advantage of a bridge. No laces at all. Sole in fair order, uppers scuffed. Weather were filthy and I didn't stop long. Tea in the car after, which counts for less but still counts.
#291
22 February 2025 · Child's shoe, right, blue
Wessenden valley path, above Marsden
Child's shoe, right, blue with a Velcro strap, so no laces to report. Sat on a flat stone beside the path up the Wessenden valley like somebody had set it there, though I don't speculate. Small size. Good condition, one season out at most. Bright day, cold wind coming straight down off the moor. I'd brought the stool and I were glad of it. Sat twenty minutes. Egg and cress. Two photographs, both came out.
#292
9 March 2025 · Left trainer, white
Layby, A62 below Standedge
Left trainer, white gone grey, laces frayed at both ends. In the layby on the A62 going up towards Standedge, wedged against the kerb stones. Laybys are reliable ground and I've never understood why more people don't check them. Fair condition under the road dirt. Traffic noise takes the pleasure off a sit-down so I didn't have one. Overcast, dry, mild for March. Two photographs taken and one came out.
#293
29 March 2025 · Right boot, brown
Butterley Reservoir spillway, Marsden
Right boot, brown leather, well worn, tongue gone. On the spillway steps at Butterley, which is a fine piece of Victorian work in its own right and worth the walk on its own account. One winter out at least, going by the leather. Laces present but rotted through. Clocks go forward tonight so I made the most of the morning. Flask conditions excellent. Cheese and pickle and a Penguin. I'll say crackin', because it were.
#294
12 April 2025 · Left plimsoll, black
Beaumont Park, Huddersfield
Left plimsoll, black, the slip-on sort, so nowt to report on laces. Under the big stone steps at Beaumont Park. Canvas gone green along one side, which tells you which way it's been lying and for a fair while. Park were busy with families and a man asked what I were photographing. I told him. He moved off. Warm for April, first proper warm day of the year. Penguin biscuit on the top terrace after.
#295
26 April 2025 · Right trainer, grey
Deer Hill conduit path, Meltham
Right trainer, grey, size eight or nine, laces in but loose. On the conduit path below Deer Hill, toe pointing at the reservoir, though the pointing means nowt and I don't read into it. Dry fortnight behind us and the path were dusty. Curlews about, which is the sound of that moor doing what it should. Sat half an hour on the stool. Cheese and pickle, and Our Linda had put a bit of fruit cake in, which were welcome.
#296
10 May 2025 · Right shoe, black
Field gateway near Marsden
I went back to the field gateway near Marsden where the first one were, October 2009. I go past it now and then but this were a proper visit, planned the night before. And there were a shoe in it. Right shoe, black, ordinary lace-up, laces gone, sole cracked across. Sixteen years apart, same gateway. I don't speculate on how, that's not the point of what I do, but I'll admit I sat a good while. Flask conditions very good. It felt right, is all I'll put.
#297
31 May 2025 · Right sandal, man's, brown
Bridleway above Scammonden Water
Right sandal, man's, brown, the buckle sort, so no laces. On the bridleway above Scammonden Water, near where the path goes under the M62. You get the motorway noise up there but the water makes up for it. Sandal in fair condition, this season's I'd say, hardly weathered. Warm and clear. Sat on the stool. Tea still hot at eleven, which I put down to the new stopper. Egg and cress. Three photographs, all came out.
#298
14 June 2025 · Right boot, black, army sort
Lock 23E, Slaithwaite
Right boot, black, army sort, laces tied together and looped over the beam of Lock 23E at Slaithwaite. Somebody had hung it there, clearly, but the how of it isn't my department. Weathered — a summer up there at least, happen more. My pen ran out halfway through the notes and I finished in pencil, which is why the notebook goes faint from here. Overcast, mild, no rain. Two boats came through while I sat, and both crews nodded.
#299
5 July 2025 · Left trainer, white with blue stripe
Holme Styes Reservoir, Holmfirth
Left trainer, white with a blue stripe, laces in, tongue pulled right out. In the reeds at the top end of Holme Styes, above Holmfirth. I nearly missed it and only caught it coming back the other way, which is why I always come back the other way. Fair condition, wet through. Warm morning, midges bad by the water. Photographs came out grainy but they suit the subject. Flask conditions fair — I'd overdone the milk.
#300
19 July 2025 · Right shoe, black, formal
Ginnel off Knowl Road, Golcar
Right shoe, black, a formal lace-up, polish still on the toe. In the ginnel off Knowl Road at Golcar, up against the wall. Laces present, untied. Good condition, recent. Three hundred, this one, by the numbering. I noted the number, checked it against the ledger twice, and had a Penguin. Fine day, light wind. A woman came past with a dog and the dog showed an interest in the shoe but she called it off, which I appreciated.
#301
9 August 2025 · Left boot, brown
Baitings Reservoir, Ripponden
Left boot, brown, laces missing, heel worn right down on the outside. On the dam wall path at Baitings Reservoir over at Ripponden. A man off the walking forum had reported it on the Tuesday and I drove over first thing Saturday, which is further than my usual ground, but a report's a report. It were still there. Confirmed and numbered. Grey morning that cleared by ten. Sat an hour on the stool. Cheese and pickle, and the view down the Ryburn valley is a good one.
#302
30 August 2025 · Child's trainer, right, white
Castle Hill, Almondbury
Right trainer, child's, white, Velcro strap, so no laces. On the trig side of Castle Hill, not far from the tower. I've been coming up Castle Hill more or less monthly since 1976 and it still turns a shoe up now and again, which I take as a point in its favour. Second one up here this year an' all. Blustery. A kestrel working the slope below the wall. Photograph came out. Flask conditions good despite the wind, on account of sitting in the lee of the wall.
#303
13 September 2025 · Left brogue, dark brown
St Lucius' churchyard, Farnley Tyas
Left brogue, dark brown, laces tied in a bow, sitting upright on the flat top of the churchyard wall at St Lucius', Farnley Tyas. Upright ones are always worth a longer look. Good condition, hardly worn. I waited a while in case somebody came back for it, as I do with the smart ones, but nobody did, so it went in. Mild, still morning. Bells at ten. Egg and cress under the yew, which I moved away from once I realised where I were sat.
#304
27 September 2025 · Right boot, brown
Digley Reservoir, near Holmbridge
Right boot, brown, laces in and knotted where they'd snapped. On the path round Digley, near the second bench. Two winters out, I'd say — leather gone stiff and the sole parting at the toe. First proper autumn morning of the year, mist sat on the water till nine and then lifted all at once. Sat on the stool with the flask. Conditions very good. A shoe like this is the bread and butter of the register and I mean that as a compliment.
#305
12 October 2025 · Left boot, black, army sort
Packhorse track, Pule Hill, Marsden
Left boot, black, army sort, no laces, tongue missing an' all. Beside the old packhorse track over Pule Hill. Well weathered — this has been out longer than owt else I've logged this year, three winters happen. Wind were strong enough that I didn't bother with the stool and took the photographs kneeling. Four taken, two came out. Quick sandwich in the shelter of the quarry edge and down before the rain, which came at one, as forecast.
#306
8 November 2025 · Right trainer, blue
Canal towpath, Shepley Bridge, Mirfield
Right trainer, blue, laces gone but the eyelets intact. On the towpath at Mirfield, by the moorings below Shepley Bridge. Barry had walked that stretch the week before and seen nowt, so either it came after or it were missed. Either way it were there Saturday and it's in the ledger now. Fair condition, wet. Rain most of the morning, eased off by eleven. Flask conditions moderate — tea were stewed, my own fault for filling it the night before.
#307
23 November 2025 · Left shoe, brown, suede
Bridleway off A640, Outlane
Left shoe, brown, suede or had been, laces in, frozen to the ground at the heel. On the bridleway off the A640 at Outlane, not far from where the Oxford were in January of twenty-four. That stretch has been good to me. First hard frost of the back end. I didn't free the shoe — you can't interfere — I photographed it where it held. Flask conditions excellent, which matters more on a morning like that. Home by half twelve.
#308
14 December 2025 · Child's boot, right, dark green
Royd Edge Clough, Meltham
Right boot, child's, dark green, the Velcro sort, so no laces. In the leaves at the bottom of Royd Edge Clough at Meltham. Last one of the year as it turned out, though you never know that at the time. Cold, low sun coming through the trees. I sat a while on the stool with the last of the tea and got the ledger up to date there and then rather than at home, which I don't usually do. Twenty for the year. Steady.