I mentioned boots because i'm that old that when my last pair were lost
(stolen from my car) they did not even make the modern type of stylish items
so prevalent today.

Thanks to all for your responses. so many conficting opinions i'm going
straight into therapy.

i've decided to go for so called trail shoes. with no goretex. and am
interested in the idea of waterproof socks (which i wont use in the warm
weather).

somebody mentioned sketchers and there is a big sketchers shop in oxford st
with hundreds of different items. on their web site it says they do a
punisher 3 trail shoe (where somewhere else it said it was their most
popular item).

i went into the sketchers shop and the manager did not know about the
punisher 3 trail shoe. i said what other trail shoes do you have and he
asked me what a trail shoe was? (they are listed on sketchers web site)
sigh

i went over the road to john lewis and they had a small selection of trail
shoes, but nothing suited me. so i will try the punisher 3 if i can find it
or another trail shoe without goretex or waterproof membrane.

i will have to re-read all through the posts to see if there is a trail shoe
mentioned by anyone of the type i want (no goretex) and at a modest price
and that i can get in london (u.k.). Thanks to all.