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The Register — 2026
20 entries, #309 to #328 · transcribed from the notebook
This year is not long written down, so I am transcribing it close to the events. Twenty shoes between January and the end of September, and I'll say now it were not an ordinary run. Our Linda found one of them herself, in the Morrisons car park at Brighouse, which has not happened before in seventeen years of doing this. There were a vicar. There were a heron. I have noted all of it in the usual way because that is the way. We were abroad twice in the spring, Nerja and then Egypt, and there were shoes both times, but them's in the Away Fixtures and not this ledger, and I'll not be moved on that. The register stands at #328 as I write this, the white cricket shoe on the outfield at Meltham, 29 September. Seven of them have come since the work boot at Rigby Woods in August, which is a fair autumn by any measure, and one of them had a pheasant at it. I have no reason to think it stops there. The flask has been good all year. The notebook is the same make as always, from the stationer's in town, and the pen has behaved itself. One thing before you read it. The Aspley Birkenstock is number 315 and I found it on the fourteenth of January, which puts it out of order down the page. I did not number it at the time because it were not finished with, and by the time it were I had gone past it. It keeps the number it were given. Moving it now would mean moving four others, and I'll not do that.
#309
10 January 2026 · Right trainer, black
Butterley Reservoir embankment path, Marsden
Right trainer, black, size eight or thereabouts, laces still in but loose. On the grass verge by the path up the Butterley embankment, toe pointing at the water. Frost overnight and the trainer had a stiffness to it. Set off half seven. First shoe of the year, which I always note, because you want the year underway. Flask conditions good. Cheese and pickle. Photographed it four times and three came out, which for January is a decent return. Nowt else on the path but a man with a dog who kept his own counsel, as did I.
#310
7 February 2026 · Child's plimsoll, left, white
Canal towpath, Milnsbridge
Left plimsoll, child's, white gone grey, elastic sort so no laces to record. Under the bench on the towpath at Milnsbridge, the one before the bridge. Wet through, and it had been wet a while by the look of it. I sat with it twenty minutes on account of it being a child's, which I always give a bit longer. Weather were mild for February, no wind on the water. Flask conditions fair, milk in as usual. Barry rang that evening about summat else entirely and I mentioned it, and he agreed it were worth the twenty minutes.
#311
1 March 2026 · Left boot, brown
Layby on the A6024 above Holme
Left boot, brown, size ten, laces gone entirely. In the layby on the A6024 above Holme, up against the kerbstone. A weathered boot, one winter at least, happen two. I parked further along and walked back, which is the proper way with laybys, you get the approach. Cold and clear, and you could see right across to Digley, which comes into it later in the year, though I didn't know that at the time. Took the stool out but didn't use it. Flask conditions very good. Egg and cress, I vary it. Six photographs, all came out, which I put down to the light.
#312
14 March 2026 · Right boot, brown leather
Digley Reservoir
Right boot, brown leather, size nine or ten, laces in and tied in a single knot. On the flat ground by the path along the north side of Digley Reservoir. Good condition for outdoors, not more than a few weeks out I'd say, though I don't speculate past that. Sat with it a good while on the stool. A chaffinch landed nearby and stopped a minute or two, which I noted. Weather overcast, dry, light breeze. Flask conditions excellent. Cheese and pickle. Eight photographs and six came out.
#313
3 April 2026 · Left trainer, grey
Morrisons car park, Brighouse
Left trainer, grey, size six or seven. In a puddle in the Morrisons car park at Brighouse, by the trolley bay. Our Linda come home of a Tuesday and said she'd seen a shoe in a puddle near the trolleys, and weren't sure it counted. First one she's found herself. I drove over and had a look. I lifted it out and set it on the low wall to dry, which is not interfering, it's drainage. Laces in, sodden. Heavy rain all morning, hence the puddle. Flask and sandwiches taken anyway, egg and cress. Photographed it on the wall and it came out well.
#314
4 April 2026 · Left trainer, blue
Blackmoorfoot Reservoir
Left trainer, blue, size eight, laces in. On the conduit path at Blackmoorfoot, south end. Mud on the toe but not the heel, which I noted and will leave at that. Two shoes in two days has only happened a handful of times in the register and I make no more of it than that. A heron stood in the shallows the whole time I were there and didn't move once. Weather grey, still. Flask conditions good. Corned beef, done thick. Sat twenty-five minutes. Nine photographs, seven came out.
#315
14 January 2026 · Left Birkenstock, brown
Aspley underpass, next to the B&Q
Left Birkenstock, brown, upright, both straps done up. In the underpass at Aspley, the one next to the B&Q. Upright is always worth recording. Dry under there whatever the weather, which were drizzle that day. I photographed it and left it, as is the practice. The identification came through later, by way of Our Linda, and it has since been retrieved and is in Box 3, Identified — Not Repatriated. That is the first entry in Box 3. I'll say no more about it here, as the particulars are private to the party concerned. Flask conditions good.
#316
8 April 2026 · Right brogue, brown
St Mary's Churchyard, Honley
Right brogue, brown, polished to a decent standard, size nine or ten, laces present but loose. On the flat top of the churchyard wall along the lane side at St Mary's, Honley. Heavy rain the whole visit, and I had me dinner under the lychgate. A polished shoe outdoors is unusual and I recorded the polish. The vicar came out partway through and watched a while, and when I explained the register he said "that's very thorough," and went back in. I take that as it were meant. No stool, on account of the setting. Flask under the lychgate, beef paste. Eleven photographs, five came out.
#317
12 April 2026 · Right brogue, brown
Lock 42E, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Marsden
Right brogue, brown, size nine, laces tied in a single knot. Balanced on the balance beam of Lock 42E on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal at Marsden, which is the sort of thing you'd think somebody had arranged, but I don't go into that. Second brogue in four days, both rights, which I note and leave alone. Had me sandwiches on a bench twenty yards back. A narrowboat came through and the gate took the pressure and the shoe rocked and didn't go in. Overcast, mild, light drizzle from midday. Flask conditions excellent. Ham and piccalilli, in foil. Thirteen photographs, ten came out, best run of the year so far.
#318
25 April 2026 · Right boot, brown
Castle Hill, Almondbury
Right boot, brown, size ten or eleven, laces tied in a double knot. On the drystone wall on the Lumb Lane side of Castle Hill, set square on the coping as if placed, though placed and left come to the same thing in the register. I've walked up Castle Hill more or less monthly since 1976 and it has given me more shoes than any spot bar Marsden, and it is still giving them. Clear morning, crackin' view down the valley, wind getting up by ten. Flask conditions good. Stool were left in the car. Sat on the wall a few yards down from the boot. Twelve photographs, eight came out.
#319
6 May 2026 · Ladies' court shoe, black
Beaumont Park, Huddersfield
Ladies' court shoe, black, upright on a bench along the valley side at Beaumont Park. Summat tucked in the toe. A small brass key on a green ribbon. I tipped it out to see what it were and I put it back exactly as it come, which is the only time I've done that. No laces to record, being a court shoe. Polished but not new. A scuff on the toe, the heel creased to somebody's foot. Sat with it the best part of an hour, longer than usual, and I couldn't tell you why, so I won't. Mild, overcast, rain in the morning. No flask. It were a half-day and I'd not planned to be out long. Photographed from four angles, all came out.
#320
27 May 2026 · Ladies' heeled shoe, red
Pule Hill, Marsden
Ladies' heeled shoe, red, on the wall by the path up Pule Hill from the Mount Road side. A red shoe shows up on a moor like nowt else and I saw it from a good hundred yards. Heel intact, no scuffing to speak of, no laces to record. How it got up there is not really the point of what I do, and I find I say that more often lately, as more folk ask. Wind strong on top, had to weight the notebook with the flask. Flask conditions good regardless. Our Linda had done me summat Japanese for me dinner, which I did not understand and had a go at anyway. Sat twenty minutes in the lee of the wall. Photographs came out well, the red helping.
#321
8 August 2026 · Right work boot, tan
Rigby Woods, near Slaithwaite
Right work boot, tan, size ten, laces in but perished. In the stone drain beside the main path through Rigby Woods, toe uphill. Rigby Woods has been good to the register over the years and I went in with the stool on the strength of that alone. Warm rain, on and off all day and mostly on. No wind under the trees. Sat twenty minutes. A work boot in a drain is as plain a find as you'll get and I gave it the full notes anyway, because the plain ones are the register as much as the others. Flask conditions fair, tea slightly stewed, my own fault. Egg and cress. Eleven photographs, ten came out.
#322
20 August 2026 · Left trainer, white
Bus shelter by the sixth form college, Huddersfield
Left trainer, white, laces in and tied. On the roof of the bus shelter by the sixth form college, near the front edge, toe over the side. A shoe on a shelter roof is a new one on me and it has got its own line in the notebook for that reason. I recorded it from the pavement. I am not climbing a bus shelter at my age and nobody would expect it. I said thrown at the time and I will leave it at that. Overcast, dry, a bit close. No flask, it were a town visit. Three buses came and went while I stood there and I got none of them. Six photographs from the pavement, four came out, the angle being what it were.
#323
22 August 2026 · Right trainer, black
Car park behind the precinct, Huddersfield
Right trainer, black, laces in, stood in a puddle at the far end of the car park behind the precinct, where the lights do not reach. Night, and raining steady, so the head torch. There is a piece of paper inside it, folded, tucked down in the toe. I did not take it out. I have done that once in seventeen year, with the key at Beaumont Park, and I put it back, and I am not making a habit of it. So I do not know what is on the paper and I will not be finding out. Wet through, paper and all. Stood with it ten minutes. No stool, it being a puddle, and no flask, it being gone nine. Eleven photographs by torch, two came out, which for a night job is about right.
#324
7 September 2026 · Right trainer, dark grey
Car park, Blackmoorfoot Reservoir
Right trainer, dark grey, laces in. On the tarmac by the green council bin in the Blackmoorfoot car park. I saw it from the car. It were raining that hard I had my dinner in the driver's seat and said I would go for it when it eased off, and it did not ease off, so I went home. The seal has gone on the driver's door and there were a drip on my knee the whole time. Went back up the Tuesday morning, which were dry, and it were still by the bin and not moved that I could tell. The particulars were took then. It goes in under the Monday because the Monday is when I saw it, and I have always done it that way. Size nine or ten, sole in fair order. Second at Blackmoorfoot this year after the blue one in April. Flask conditions on the Monday good, in the car. Corned beef, in foil. Eight photographs on the Tuesday and seven came out, the light being better.
#325
18 September 2026 · Right brogue, brown
Storthes Hall woods, Kirkburton
Right brogue, brown, laces in, on the leaf litter a yard off the path through Storthes Hall woods. There were a cock pheasant at it when I got there and it were at it the whole time I stayed, pecking at the laces and going at the heel. I do not interfere and I did not. By the time I left it had shifted the shoe the best part of half a metre from where it first were, toe round towards the path. I have recorded both positions, first and last, with a line between. I have not moved it. It has. I were out of breath from the climb and it were not a restful visit. Damp under the trees, mild. Flask conditions fair. Ham. No stool. Nine photographs, five came out, and there is a pheasant in four of them.
#326
23 September 2026 · Right trainer, grey
Hand car wash, retail park off Leeds Road
Right trainer, grey, laces in, in the vacuum bay at the hand car wash on the retail park, up against the kerb under the hose. I had took the Astra in. It weren't there Tuesday. Wet through, but I would put that down to the jet rather than the weather. I asked the lads if I could stand there till the car were done and they said I could, and they were very good about it and worked round me with the jet. Drizzle on and off. No flask, it were a car wash. Six photographs, three came out, and one of them has a lad in it. They did the wheels as well.
#327
24 September 2026 · Left trainer, blue
Lane above Butterley Reservoir, Marsden
Left trainer, blue, laces in, on the verge of the single-track lane up past the reservoir. I had been with it about ten minutes when a flock come up the lane behind me, wall to wall, a man on a quad and a dog working them. I stood where I were. There were nowhere else to stand and I were there before they were. They went round me and over the verge, and for a minute or so I could not see the shoe at all. When they had gone it were still there, pressed down into the grass a bit further than it had been. I will not say it moved. Drizzle, grey, not much wind. The man on the quad nodded and I nodded. Flask conditions good, after. Egg and cress. Ten photographs, six came out, and three of them are sheep.
#328
29 September 2026 · Right cricket shoe, white, spiked
Cricket field, Meltham
Right cricket shoe, white, spikes in the sole, laces in. On the outfield at deep square leg, a few yards in from the rope. I could see it from the lane and I walked out to it. There were a match on. They stopped. I did not ask them to. Nobody said owt and I did not keep them long. A white shoe shows up on grass near as well as the red one did on Pule Hill. Overcast, the wind getting up across the field. No stool, it being their field, and the flask stayed in the car. Four photographs, all came out, and the nearest fielder is in two of them, stood waiting.