The war of the roses back dates 1455-1487 and was fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Symbolised through the colour of their roses (red for Lancaster, white for York), it’s a rivalry that’s present every time a Yorkshire motorist passes the M62 summit before the hill down into the shadows. 

For those of you living outside of the UK or if you have a less petty persuasion, you’ll wonder what on earth I am talking about. 

There’s a soft rivalry between both sides of the Pennine hills that separates the lands of the roses. It’s one that’s only hardened often through sporting events these days, yet at truce as one against anyone from ‘The South’. 

Both sides of the hill have a rich history of manufacturing and there’s one company carrying that tradition on a small Lancashire village called Whalley. 

LANX are a footwear company born from one man’s passion as founder Marv dedicated 6 months of his life back in 2016 to learning all he could about the footwear industry. Just under two years from starting that journey and LANX was born.

Starting with a small collection, Marv took LANX across market stalls around the north west, putting in the hard yards and meeting customers. This really resonates as it’s how we started doing what we do now with jackets. We spent hours collecting jackets to and from customer’s houses and I firmly believe this does hold so much value to any brand starting out. We understand not just the hard work but what it takes to simply have no fear of looking stupid when you put your idea in front of the public. 

Since those early days, they’ve not looked back. 

I’ve owned lots of boots and moved lots of boots on as I travel the endless grail journey that most of us enthusiasts tend to walk. I started with the Red Wing moc toe as every rugged menswear account on Instagram ‘shows’ that every outfit starts with that illustrious brand. Fantastic as they are, I nerve got on with them. Sadly it took three different pairs in two different sizes to realise. 

I decided the moc toe style made my feet look and feel ‘clunky’, almost clown-like and they weren’t as versatile as I’d have liked. Everything I add to my wardrobe I make sure to work across a number of looks. One for value but two to remove the anguish of indecision. Building a capsule-esque wardrobe means anything and everything will work together. 

I then started looking toward the Iron Ranger style and bought variations on the model from Thursday Boot but I couldn’t get on with the sole (hopefully this attention to detail gives you some idea on how I treat your jackets btw..)

Enter the LANX Tasker but specifically for me, in Mole. 

LANX and Mallin & Son haven’t crossed paths too often but in our world you get to know about all of the good indie makers doing good stuff. We share the same customers. For example, our customers get their coat reproofed by us, buy their boots from LANX, buy their jeans from Hebtroco, their shirt from PWVC or from McNair or from Jojo’s and they might buy their watches from Bremont. It’s a discerning customer who simply knows the score. 

The tasker is a classic style, similar but less cosplay than the Red Wing Iron Ranger and fits true to my size 9 feet. The finish is simply stunning. I’m making a big assumption but the leather leads me to believe that no two boots out of the factory will look the same with the patina on day 1 already owning its own personality. 

It’s a finish that makes me want to drag my toe a little and ‘oops’, knock them against the kerb as every mark will just make them look better. I’ve worn these a lot in the workshop and they’ve had hot wax splash on them which (sadly) brushed off with no staining. Same applies to a short muddy walk and a couple of downpours. A quick brush and they’re as good as they were out of the box with just the slightest memory of the day’s misuse. That’s all good but I’m begging for them to gather the laughter lines from a 90 year old man’s face. Like all good things…. 

As an all round, rugged, daily pair of boots, the Tasker will take some beating for me and as you can hopefully see/read, I can’t wait for them to grow old with me. 

Yorkshire is still better though. 

Thanks to Marv and the team at Lanx for sending the boots over. You can see the full range here.