Born in Sydney’s Annandale as Norman Kingsford Syphers in 1928, “Bill” began his bootmaking apprenticeship in Kings Cross at just 14. 

In those days, he said, there was a bootmaker on every corner, and after three years he was yearning for country life.

“I’d had enough in the city.”

Bill began working on farms, doing jobs like wheat carting and building haystacks to earn a quid.

 He joined the army after World War II, when he sailed to Japan in 1946 for two years as part of the Occupation Forces.

On his return to Australia, he happened to pass through Gunnedah and found it “to be the most hospitable place. It was the people, mainly”.

It was there he began working for the Postmaster General as a linesman, and doing small bootmaking and upholstery jobs for locals. 

Around this time, Bill took up the craft he learned as a teenager full-time and opened his first shop in Barber St in the 1950s. 

He continued bootmaking and saddlery before moving to another premises in Chandos St, where he stayed for 25 years before relocating to his current shop in the main street. 

Still working with machines that are more than 70 years old, Bill prides himself on quality.

From saddlery and replacing soles on boots to redoing stitching and repairing heels, Bill’s workmanship is something he’s proud of. 

Sadly, the traditional art of bootmaking is just about finished, but Bill doesn’t have retirement in his sights just yet.

“I’ll slow down when I get a bit older,” he chuckled.