Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales

Summary

Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From The leading theory is that the black leather boots, which were discovered by volunteers, were traveling on a cargo ship that sank nearby roughly 150 years ago Volunteers have discovered more than 400 shoes while cleaning up rock pools. Beach Academy CIC via Facebook Hundreds of black leather boots that appear to be from the 19th century have washed up on a beach, mystifying residents of a seaside village in southern Wales. Volunteers have been finding the shoes while cleaning up litter from rock pools on a beach in Ogmore-by-Sea, a coastal town along the Bristol Channel. During one week in late December alone, they found 200 boots in one small area, reports BBC Wales’ Angela Ferguson. In total, they’ve discovered more than 400 shoes since September. Beachcombers have discovered several shapes and styles of footwear, but they all appear to be from the Victorian era. The soles are attached with nails. “Some of the boots are in pretty good condition, and with some you can very clearly see they are a men’s boot,” Emma Lamport, the founding director of Beach Academy, a group that organizes outdoor learning events and activities, tells BBC Wales. In December, Beach Academy posted photos of the shoes on social media, asking members of the public for help identifying them. “They resemble shoes from times past rather than modern styles,” according to the post. “We are slowly excavating them from rockpool zones where they have been embedded into sediment or trapped in rocks. ... We have no idea how long they have actually been trapped there! Many stories, I’m sure.” Some residents chimed in to describe their own mysterious discoveries, with one woman writing that she’s “collected buckets full [of shoes] over the years.” Right now, the leading theory is that the shoes came from an Italian cargo vessel that sank nearby roughly 150 years ago. Its cargo—which included ...