> Hilariously they're never found a pair of shoes, only singles.

From that first link: “These two little treasures were part of the hoard of over 400 shoes excavated in 2016. One would probably think that we have lots of pairs of shoes however, we only have a few. But this pair was easier to identify as they were small and have a less usual construction style as they do not have a seam that stitches them up over the toe and they were also found close together.”

Also, looking at those shoes, many of them don’t look beyond repair to me. Quite a few look like they’d need only minor repairs.