They are Italian, they were expensive in 2017, and they have been resoled three times.

The first resole was at four years, which felt premature and wasn't — I had worn the heel block down at an angle from walking too much road between hills. The second was at six. The third was in March, and the cobbler in Levenshulme held them up to the window, turned them over, and said the uppers would outlast me if I kept the leather fed, which I have decided to take as a compliment about the boots.

The arithmetic is dull and completely convincing. Boots, once: a lot. Three resoles: rather less than one replacement pair. Nine years of walking, and the only part that has ever failed is the part designed to.

What surprised me is not the durability. It's that they got better. A boot that has been on your foot for nine years is not a boot any more, it's a cast of your foot with a Vibram sole attached. I have never had a blister in them. I have had blisters in three pairs of trainers bought since.

The modern alternative is a shoe that weighs a third as much, dries in an hour, grips better on wet rock, and is landfill in two seasons because it's bonded rather than stitched and cannot be resoled by anyone at any price.

I am not going to pretend that's a straightforward trade. The light ones really are better on a fast summer day, and I own a pair.

But there's something worth noticing about a thing you can maintain. You end up in a relationship with it. You feed the leather in October. You notice the heel going. You take them to a man in Levenshulme who has opinions. None of that is available to you with a bonded shoe, and I don't think the difference is only sentimental.