Why I’ll quite happily go barefoot in the park and most other places - Christa Ackroyd

“And who do you think you are ?”he asked. “The Barefoot Contessa?”

I had absolutely no idea who the barefooted noblewoman was he spoke of. (It turns out she was a fictional character in a 1950s’ film starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart) No matter. The point was I had been rumbled about to set off on the bus with absolutely nothing on my feet.

“Oh Christa,” mum added to the mix. “What were you thinking?”

And trust me it wasn’t the first time she had said that.

The truth is I wasn’t thinking. In fact it seems I can’t actually think at all when I have something on my feet. It somehow fuddles my brain. One for the psychiatrists I suggest.

My relationship with shoes has never been a good one as long as I can remember and beyond. If I could avoid it I would never wear shoes from being a toddler. Apparently I removed them and threw them out the pram from being tiny.

When I escaped through a hole in the hedge aged about two leading to a frantic police search I was discovered an hour later feeding the ducks my lunchtime jam sandwiches with nothing on my feet and very little else too.

And as I grew older the first thing I did when I got home from school was to kick off my shoes and run around barefoot inside and out.

This was the cause of two areas of concern for my mother.

Firstly, it was a daily conversation not to just abandon the said offending footwear in the hallway ‘for everyone to trip over’ but to place them neatly in the cupboard under the stairs, which I never did without being prompted.

The second concern was "aren’t your feet cold?”. The answer then and now is, no never. And I never wear socks either yet have never had a chilblain in my life.

Anyone who has ever worked with me, dined with me or danced with me will tell you the same thing I never ever have anything on my feet.

Every time I sit down to write a word the first thing I do is kick off my shoes. It somehow frees my mind too. I never wore any shoes to broadcast in radio which got me into a whole load of trouble on the telly unless my legs were hidden under the desk.

And I have lost count of the number of times I would shout ‘Where are my shoes‘ moments before I was due on air having kicked them off in an edit suite or a dressing room if they were to be visible.

When I get in the car I don’t don a sensible pair of flatties I drive barefoot. And before you say anything it is a myth that it is illegal to drive without anything on your feet … you just have to prove you are in control of the pedals and trust me after decades of barefoot walking my feet are exceptionally agile. And strong.

But it is all that being barefoot does for the mind that is one of life’s little pleasures for me.

The science is there. Going barefoot aids you mentally and physically. It quite literally grounds you. What’s more scientists have shown that walking barefoot helps balance both body and mind, releases anti oxidants, reduces inflammation and promotes sleep.

Who would have thought I had discovered a thing before it was even a thing?

I am surely not alone. Shoes are a nuisance.

And even if you are not the earth mother type you have to admit even the best and most comfortable of them can get on your nerves.

And so it was after a hard day at the office the Queen signalled she agrees entirely.

There is one thing being pictured climbing onto a plane for the long journey home without anything on your feet, but it was quite another being pictured sans footwear climbing up the steps to the Governor’s Mansion in Sydney in all her finery for a posh do.

But why not? know that climb I have done it often because my daughter’s first apartment when she and her partner moved to Australia twenty years ago was literally next door.

The views are spectacular. To the right is the Sydney Opera House. To the left is the Harbour Bridge and in front there is nothing but water. But boy is it a climb from the jetty to the top.

And no wonder, after a long day even wearing comfortable shoes, did the Queen attempt to soothe her aching feet by removing her shoes. It made me smile. But then the Queen often makes me smile. As she does her husband.

Camilla is funny, outrageous, quirky and entirely her own woman. She knows how to prick pomposity and cares not a jot.

Of course there were raised eyebrows at her barefoot climb. She will not have given a damn. If her feet were hurting, her feet were hurting. So she solved it, in the only way she knew how, by throwing protocol out the window. And her shoes.

Of course the experts warn against walking on hard pavements and uneven ground both for hygiene and health and safety. Instead barefoot walking is meant for you to feel the grass beneath your feet and the sand between your toes.

But blow it. If needs must then there is nothing like the comfort it brings. Though my dad was absolutely right shopping in town isn’t entirely appropriate.

But at least now we women are no longer slaves to our feet.

Post Covid fashion has changed. I have lost count of the number of us who ditched our heels when there was nowhere to go too and have never gone back to them.

The smartest of office attire is now teamed with the most comfortable of trainers without a second glance. And flat ballet shoes are back with a vengeance.

Which brings me to my final contrary point.

If I have never worn shoes whenever possible, if I have always kicked them off at every opportunity why on earth have I got a shoe cupboard bursting with shoes of every shape height and colour which I will probably never wear again? And then only for sitting down in?

Ah the world is full of mysteries. If I said I like shoes to look at though not on my feet you might think me totally crackers. But then if the shoe fits, you are probably absolutely right.