Real stories · Dry socks, every time

I used to come home from every winter walk with wet, cold socks — these boots changed that

Dry socks at the end of a wet walk — I'd forgotten that was possible. I'm 67, and every British winter brings the same small misery: slush at the kerb, puddles at every crossing, drizzle that never quite stops, and by the time I'm home my socks are damp, my toes are cold and I'm peeling everything off on the stairs. It made me dread going out at all on grey days.

What I wanted was to come home with dry feet.

Then I found the Winterra from a British label called York Boutique — winter ankle boots with a grey fur cuff and a deep grippy sole. I chose the black; there's grey, pink, blue and brown too.

The outside is water-repellent, so slush, snow and light rain bead up and roll off instead of soaking through — which is why I now come home, pull them off and find dry socks underneath. Inside they're insulated, so the warmth stays in too, and they simply pull on with no laces to fiddle with.

A water-repellent outside that lets slush and light rain roll off — which is why I pull them off at the door and find dry socks underneath.

At £29.95 — half the usual £60 — they cost less than the pile of socks I used to ruin each winter.

They've done grey drizzly dog walks, a slushy trip into town and a very wet Saturday at the market, and Winnie is now the only one in the house who comes home soggy. I did check before ordering that I could send them back if they didn't suit — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free.

If winter walks also end with wet, cold socks, do have a look. The Winterra is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 280 women, it comes in black, grey, pink, blue and brown, in sizes 3 to 12 — and once the wet weather sets in, they go quickly.