“Make sure you’ve put on clean socks Gareth, I’m taking you to have your feet measured after school today,” said Mum.

Last time, it was a shiny tape measure bound around my socked foot; this time it was a device with moving walls which closed in around my feet. It was scary and reminded me of that room with spiked walls in Batman with Adam West. What if the walls kept squeezing in?

However high-tech foot measuring became, it was never something I looked forward to – like having a haircut or a filling.

The only thing that kept me going was the possibility of getting a pair of Tuf shoes with a magnetic compass hidden in the sole.

As we grew older, we were tempted by Clark’s Polyveldts and Nature Treks. I had two pairs of Nature Treks. They smelled gorgeous but the soles split all the way through on both of them.

After reaching Size 5, I waved goodbye to The Shoe Box and started going to Colwyn Bay Indoor Market to buy my own choice of shoes – Monkey Boots. A perfect match for those drainpipe denims, ex-army top and a trip on the train to Eric’s  Liverpool to see Stiff Little Fingers in 1978.