Overview
- Beach Academy volunteers have excavated 437 leather shoes from four Vale of Glamorgan beaches during 15 sessions since September.
- Most were found at Ogmore (293) and Llantwit Major (134) with nine at Penarth and one at Whitmore Bay.
- About 200 shoes were removed from Ogmore in a single week as items embedded in sediment were freed from rock and mud.
- Experts and mudlark Lara Maiklem describe the footwear as 19th-century styles from adult men and children, though the source remains unconfirmed.
- Leading theories point to a 150-year-old shipwreck near Tusker Rock or historic shoemaking waste entering local rivers, and Beach Academy is inviting more volunteers.