Going to school one day I got stuck in it and lost one of the new boots that my mother was after buying for me In Mrs Conn’s Shoe Shop in Hill Street. I was afraid to go home with the bad news. I brought my news first to my granny Gribbens. No matter where we searched the boot could not be found.

It was weeks later when the snow finally disappeared that someone came upon that boot lying in the street. In the meantime it had acquired a fame of its own. By then everyone knew about Tom McKeown’s missing boot! It was quickly paired with its pristine other half and they were worn as a pair until they were ready for Tommy Roe’s!