Clog (British)

A British clog is a wooden soled clog from Great Britain.

There are two explanations of the development of the English style clog. They may have evolved from pattens which were slats of wood held in place by thonging or similar strapping. They were usually worn under leather or fabric shoes to raise the wearer's foot above the mud of the unmade road, not to mention commonly dumped human effluent and animal dung. Those too poor to afford shoes wore wood directly against the skin or hosiery, and thus the clog was developed, made of part leather and part wood. Alternatively they have been described as far back as Roman times, possibly earlier.

The wearing of clogs in Britain became more visible with the Industrial Revolution, when industrial workers needed strong, cheap footwear. Men and women wore laced and clasped clogs respectively, the fastening clasps being of engraved brass or more commonly steel. Nailed under the sole at toe and heel were clog irons, called calkers or cokers, generally 3/8" wide x 1/4" thick with a groove down the middle to protected the nail heads from wear. The heyday of the clog in Britain was between the 1840s and 1920s and, although traditionally associated with Lancashire, they were worn all over the country, not just in the industrial North of England. Indeed, Mark Clyndes of Walkleys says "More clogs were worn down south than in the northern industrial towns". The London fish docks, fruit markets and the mines of Kent being particularly noted.

Clogs were sometimes handed out as part of poor relief; the Blackburn Weekly Telegraph recorded five people receiving "gifts of clogs or parcels of clothing" in 1912.

Although associated in the popular mind with dancing, clogs are still used in industry and are available tested to EN345. Such clogs are particularly advantageous in metal working industries where hot swarf or spashes of molten metal may be found on the floor. In 1989 three shiploads of clogs were sent to The Netherlands due to the perceived inferiority of the Dutch clog in wet fields.

In the past the English tended to employ Welsh and West Country alder, Scottish birch and Lincolnshire willow for the soles. The Welsh favoured alder, birch & sycamore. for their clog soles.

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