Tanner Bates UK

28/08/2026

Stitching up one of our made to measure Oak Bark Devon Belts in the natural undyed oak bark tanned leather this morning - off to its new home!

Leather by
Buckle by

Completely hand made and hand stitched right here in our South Devon workshop by Matt & Matthew 🪡

28/08/2026

Not all leather is created equal
Don’t get caught out!

Know your full grain from your genuine leather, your vegetable tan from your chrome tan, and your butt from your shoulder or belly!

In this short three part series, we’re going to (hopefully) shed some light on the often overlooked variances in leather available to you.

*photo of an oak bark tanned hide being finished at Bakers Tannery here in Devon

Know your leather: Part 3
Butt, Shoulder or Belly?

It is confusing... leather is leather right?

No.

Here at Tanner Bates, we use full grain vegetable tanned leather. In our opinion, this is the crème de la crème.

Leather is available in various different cuts, each has its benefits and drawbacks and can also depend a little on the animal from which it comes.

For the most part, we use cow hide here at Tanner Bates, which we’ll focus on below, and specifically the two finest cuts which come from the butt and the shoulder.

*photo of Andrew kindly showing us a Russia Kip skin at Bakers Tannery

The Butt is cut from the rear/rump section of the animal. It can either be sold as a ‘Bend’ which is one half of a ‘Butt’. It can also be sold as a ‘Pair’ which is two Bends effectively making up the whole butt. Or confusingly it can also be sold as a ‘Double Butt’ which is the whole butt as one piece. This cut has a very tight fibre and grain structure. It is revered for its tensile strength and low stretch. It tends to have fewer natural wrinkles than other areas.

As the butt is the longest and strongest part of the hide, it is perfect for belts. Our oak bark tanned Devon leather, sourced from the world famous J&FJ Baker’s Tannery, is English Bridle Butt. We also use this cut for some of our bags and accessories.

*photo of hides being moved between tan pits - a weekly process at Bakers Tannery

The shoulder is almost always sold as a double shoulder rather than a single shoulder, and referred to as ‘A Shoulder’ for the whole double shoulder piece.

We use this premier cut for a multitude of products, from belts to bags and small leather goods and accessories. It still has a tight fibre and grain structure, although with slightly more flexibility than t

21/08/2026

Not all leather is created equal

Don’t get caught out!

Know your full grain from your genuine leather, your vegetable tan from your chrome tan, and your butt from your shoulder or belly!

In this short three part series, we’re going to (hopefully) shed some light on the often overlooked variances in leather available to you.

Know your leather: Part 2

Full Grain Vs Top Grain Vs Genuine or Bonded Leather

It is confusing... leather is leather right?

No.

Here at Tanner Bates, we use full grain vegetable tanned leather. In our opinion, this is the crème de la crème.

*Photo of some beautiful full grain oak bark tanned hides at Bakers Tannery here in Devon

Now, what is full grain?

Full grain simply means that the top surface of the leather (the grain side), has not been sanded, buffed, coated, or otherwise messed with. Every mark that was on the animal’s skin will be visible on the leather. We like to celebrate these characteristics as they make each piece as unique as the animal the skin came from. The structure and fibres of the leather are left intact.

However, many modern brands do not like to see the individual characteristics of the leather and opt to have the surface of the leather ‘Grain Corrected’ or ‘Top Grain’, in order that each piece is completely devoid of any natural marks and completely uniform. To achieve this, the leather is sanded and buffed, maybe even refinished with a new artificial surface layer and embossed with an artificial grain pattern. This essentially damages and/or removes the natural grain and structure of the leather, weakening it.

Next up is ‘Genuine Leather’. If you see this, run a mile!
Genuine leather is a leather split, which means that the top (most beautiful, strongest and valuable) layer of the leather has been removed. What you are left with is the ‘split’, the underneath of the hide. There is no strength here, and it isn’t pretty either. The surface will need to be finished artificially to give the appearance of leather.

Finally, there is ‘Bonded Leather’. Almost not worth talking about, definitely worth avoiding!
The manufacturing process begins with the collection of discarded leather fragments, which are t

21/08/2026

A batch of branded journals getting stitched up in the workshop today for our friends at Yellowtail Financial Planning.
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If your business needs to level up their corporate gifting game or issue team members with some professional branded pieces for client meetings or an event, get in touch!
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As always, each piece is completely hand made right here in our small South Devon workshop by Matt & Matthew, using full grain vegetable tanned leather. ✌🏼
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[email protected]

14/08/2026

Not all leather is created equal
Don’t get caught out!

Know your full grain from your genuine leather, your vegetable tan from your chrome tan, and your butt from your shoulder or belly!

In this short three part series, we’re going to (hopefully) shed some light on the often overlooked variances in leather available to you.

Know your leather: Part 1
Vegetable tanning vs Chrome tanning

It is confusing... leather is leather right?

No.

Here at Tanner Bates, we use full grain vegetable tanned leather. In our opinion, this is the crème de la crème.

Leather can be tanned in a couple of different ways, and how the leather is tanned will ultimately determine how it will wear and perform over its life, and what sort of experience you’ll have with it.

Vegetable tanning is an age old tradition that uses water and tree bark to transform the skin from raw hide into leather. This is a slow and gentle tanning method. The fibres of the hide are kept intact. No nasty chemicals are used.

At our local Devon tannery, they specifically use oak bark, which is incredibly slow and gentle, taking 18 months in total until the leather is finally finished. The hides are moved from tan pit to tan pit by hand every single week for an entire year! Oak bark tanning produces leather of the highest tensile strength and leather from this incredibly special tannery is known the world over.

Vegetable tanned leather will smell like leather ought to, develop a patina throughout its life unique to the owner and how the product is used. It will take on marks, deepen and darken in colour, with each application of leather conditioner. A piece made from vegetable tanned leather will become a lifelong friend.

By comparison, chrome tanned leather is a modern process of tanning. It is much faster and cheaper. However it uses lots of nasty chemicals and chromium salts.

Chrome tanned leather will not develop a patina, it will simply become dirty. It will not smell like ‘leather’ as you think it would. It is however more resilient to taking on marks.

In short, if you’re buying anything leather, and it isn’t immediately obvious, ask.

Ask how the was leather tanned.
Ask who made the product.

31/07/2026

This got us thinking...

How can we share more of Tanner Bates with more people?

The feel. The smell. The experience.

Recently, we made a belt for one of our close friends. For years, he has been wearing an old H&M belt that really was past its best. We’ve subtly suggested to him many times that he might like to upgrade his belt, all to no avail. Until last week. He finally took the plunge and invested in one of our belts. His first Tanner Bates piece.

He popped back in to the workshop just earlier today and said:

‘You’re right. I totally get it now. Every morning when I put this belt on, I think to myself, yes, this is a seriously good belt.’

Music to our ears!

And that really got us thinking... We need to get our products into the hands of more people. Leather is such a tactile and tangible product. It isn’t until you have it in your hand, wear or use a Tanner Bates product every day that you can fully appreciate how special the leather is.

As much as we can bang on about our hand made products and our leather being different. Adding a little luxury to everyday pieces. The journey of the patina developing and each piece being unique, becoming a familiar and treasured friend over years of use. And as many photos and videos as we can share on our website and socials...

The simple fact is, that nothing compares to having the physical piece in your hand. The feel. The smell. The experience.

We want to share our passion, spread the good word of hand made leather pieces and give more people the opportunity to discover our little workshop.

So. Tell us. We want to hear from you.

We’re on the lookout for the coolest local independent brands to connect with.

Where would you like to see Tanner Bates pieces stocked?

Who is your favourite restaurant or pub who really ought to have a Tanner Bates menu cover or bill presenter?

Do you know of or work for a company who need to up their corporate gifting game to impress staff and clients?

What new products would you like to see us make?

Drop us an email: [email protected]

Or slide into our DMs

As ever, thank you for your support.
Love from Devon,
Rick, Matt & Matthew

17/07/2026

Football Fever!

Wow - What a world cup!

Huge congratulations to our lads for getting to the Semi Finals - Epic effort.

Did you know that footballs used to be made of leather?

And that our dear friend and founder of Tanner Bates, John, once made a traditional leather football?

It seemed like a fitting time to revisit this fascinating project from the Tanner Bates archive.

Head over to the website to read our blog post about this wonderful project and watch the video.

Football has been around for millennia in some form or another. Originally people used animal bladders or animal skin stuffed with things like hair, wool or feathers as a football. Then in medieval times, tough stitched leather stuffed with cork shavings was a popular choice for footballs.

With the invention of vulcanised rubber in 1836 by Charles Goodyear, and the subsequent inventions of durable inflatable bladders and air pumps in 1862. HJ Lindon created a football that used a rubber bladder to hold its shape bound in a heavy leather. These early leather footballs needed to be hand-laced after inflation and could absorb large amounts of water, making them dangerously heavy during wet weather.

However, it wasn’t until the definitive codification of Association Football and the creation of The English Football Association in 1863, which kickstarted the mass production of leather bound footballs.

Finally in 1935, British manufacturer Richard Webber introduced an innovative 18-panel lace-less leather design, known as the Webber Premier, for precision and control.

Leather balls then finally gave way to synthetic materials gradually between the 1960s and 1980s.

06/07/2026

03/07/2026

A custom Mini Kingsbridge Travel Bag looking rather fine - even if we do say so ourselves! Featuring Russia Kip leather from , solid brass hand hammered rivets complete with a detachable shoulder strap. 👌