Inside the historic factory of the King’s favourite shoemaker

• You could be forgiven for thinking that Crockett & Jones is like any other British heritage brand. After all, it has much in common with Savile Row’s oldest tailors, or Jermyn Street’s traditional shirtmakers. There’s the Victorian founding date (established in Northampton in 1879), the royal warrant the company’s held since 2017, and the regular patronage of King Charles III (he owns several pairs, including Connaught lace-ups and Cavendish tassel loafers). Then there’s the four-storey red-bric