Real stories · The boots that gave me my afternoons back

My feet used to decide when I went home — these orthopaedic boots gave me my afternoons back

The boots that gave me my afternoons back — I mean that quite literally. I'm 67, and for the last few years my feet have been the ones deciding when an outing ends. Not me, not the weather, not whether I was enjoying myself: my heels. By early afternoon on York's cobbles there'd be that hot, tired ache spreading up into my knees, and home we'd go.

What I wanted was a boot built for feet like mine — that didn't announce the fact to everyone.

Then I found the Velirissea from a British label called York Boutique — orthopaedic ankle boots, and I chose the grey, in a soft suede-look finish with a gold zip that makes them look far less 'sensible' than they are.

This is a boot with an actual job to do. The sole is shock-absorbent, which is why the impact the pavement used to send straight up into my heels and knees simply gets swallowed before it reaches me — and inside there's proper arch and heel support holding the foot where it's supposed to be. They're surprisingly lightweight for how sturdy that chunky sole looks, the premium PU leather upper keeps its shape, and the gold side zip means they go on and off without a struggle. With jeans they honestly just look like a rather stylish pair of ankle boots.

The shock-absorbing sole takes the impact the pavement used to send straight up into my heels and knees — and with the arch support holding my feet properly, the 3 o'clock ache simply stopped arriving.

The first real test was a full morning: market, chemist, the long way home along the river with Winnie. It was somewhere on that river path I realised the 3 o'clock ache simply hadn't arrived. I kept waiting for it, like a bus that never came. We took the longer loop the next day out of pure spite.

They were £39.95 in the sale, half the usual £80 — and I'd checked I could send them back if my feet disagreed, which you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free. They come in six colours and in sizes 3.5 to 9.

If your feet have also been ending your days early, do treat yourself to a look. The Velirissea is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 320 women, it's £39.95 in the sale instead of £80 — half price — and the middle sizes always seem to go first.