ONE of West Yorkshire's most famous shoe shops is due to close at the end of next month - after more than 120 years serving Wharfedale and Aireborough.

Chippindales in Guiseley will close its doors for the last time in February when current owner Jane Blake retires.

The Chippindale name has been associated with the region for hundreds of years, with renowned cabinetmaker, Thomas Chippindale being Otley's most famous son.

But how many would associate Chippindales shoe shop with the great man himself?

Mrs Blake can trace her family tree to the 17th century marriage of William Chippindale, brother of Thomas.

Now the pedigreed success story of the Chippindale family in Wharfedale and Aireborough will come to an end when Mrs Blake retires at the end of next month.

Mrs Blake took over the running of the business when her father, Ernest Fawcett, died in the early 1980s, and ran the business with her late mother Meg.

She said: "I'm very sad and it's the end of an era not just for Guiseley but for all around here.

"I've been touched that everybody is being so nice to me. People are saying that we are an institution, and that we can't go, but I need a rest and I always said I'd retire when I got to 65.

"I'll miss the customers most of all.

"You get to know them over the years - people's parents, grandparents, in fact whole generations of families have come here for their shoes fitting and many of them become friends.

"You see them come in for weddings, funerals and events. It's amazing how you manage to follow people's lives through just fitting their shoes.

"You don't realise how well you are liked until you go."

The original shoemaking area, situated above the Guiseley shop, was opened in 1878 by Alfred Chippindale, and is known locally as Springfield Mills.

There, thousands of pairs of shoes were hand-crafted into all shapes and sizes.

The last two pairs of shoes were made there in about 1935 by Mrs Blake's great-great-grandfather Ben Chippindale for an un-named farmer from Esholt.

The workshop is now a vast empty space which Mrs Blake is ultimately hoping to convert into loft-style apartments.

For Mrs Blake, moving away will be especially difficult, because she was born in the first floor living quarters above the shop, but she said she was looking forward to travelling during her retirement.

Neither of her children, Katherine or Nicholas, wanted to carry on the business, but Mrs Blake insists that her family's heritage will be long-remembered.

A new shoe business will be based on the site with Start-Rite running a children's shoe fitters there.

All of Chippindales' staff have been offered jobs with the new business.

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