Shoe Tours

Happy New Year! Incredibly it’s 2026, and then can only mean one thing… We’re all on a diet!

But away from that and all your resolutions, we can reveal we have a raft of new dates available for Step Forward With Lewis’ popular Northampton Shoe Tours – check them out now and become part of our SHOE ARMY!

Our 2026 tours – which cost just £10 per person – will meet at 9am outside Northampton Museum in Guildhall Road in the town centre on the below dates. Currently, all of these dates are for walking tours.

If you would like to take part in a running tour, please get in touch via email at stepforwardwithlewis@gmail.com and we can arrange these separately.

Sunday, March 29
Sunday, April 19
Sunday, May 17
Sunday, June 7
Sunday, July 12
Sunday, September 20

To book your place or for more information, please get in touch via the above email address. Payment will be due in cash on the day or via BACS in advance.

The tours take in the historical sites of the town’s rich shoe heritage, including famous sites such as the Tricker’s factory. Please note the tours take place entirely outside, so please wear suitable shoes and clothing for comfort. Although we will view the outside of the town’s factories, we are not currently able to offer tours within those facilities.

During the tours, which last between an hour-and-a-half to two hours for the running tour and around two-and-a-half hours to three hours for the walking tour, you will see where Northampton’s shoe manufacturers worked and lived, and learn what their lives were like as the industry boomed.

Our tours:

Cost £10 per person, and we will require a minimum of four people to take part to make the tours viable.
Private group and wheelchair accessible tours are available on request.
To book your place on the tour, or if you have any questions, please get in touch at stepforwardwithlewis@gmail.com
Payment will be in cash on the day, or via BACS in advance (please ask for details).

The history of SFWL’s Shoe Tours

When the then borough council decided to celebrate Northampton’s shoe heritage in 2020 by erecting a number of statues of shoes around the town centre, our immediate thought was ‘we’d better run round to see them all’.

Thus, the Step Forward with Lewis Northampton Shoe Run was born.

As things stand, the new unitary council has not returned the shoe statues to our streets after removing them prior to the coronavirus pandemic so they do not form part of our new tours – but don’t worry, we’ve got enough heritage, history and shoe sites for even the most avid footwear lover.

If interested in a tour then email stepforwardwithlewis@gmail.com

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