Recently my heels have started displaying signs of wanting to depart my body and rest up for a year or twenty.
This is not an option.
So I have bought a pair of Scholl inserts which raise my arch and are said to aid the recovery of sore heelitus.
All well and good, but they feel worserer than ever since I started using them.
Any ideas that wont cost the earth or cause amputation?

I think that I have mentioned this before but an appointment with a podiatrist will cost £30 to £40. This could possibly save you a lot of worry and be cost effective in the long run. (Google "pronating" before you go though).

Alternatively some specialist walking shops are visited by itinerant foot specialists who will give you a free walking assessment and advice using a specialist machine without trying to flog you anything. Ring your local Rohan stockist, they occasionally use them. Google Cotswold and other chain shops who may have some dates that they are visiting.

If you are worrying and whilst you can still rest them over winter it is probably time to get professional help.

As recently mentioned 'Sorbothane double strike' insoles, just make sure there is sufficient room in the boots for them as they are quite thick.
I go to a chiropodist and get my heels and any other hard areas of my feet 'peeled', and then put moisturising cream on them at least twice a day to keep them supple, before doing a multi day route.
I still have occasional heel blisters but nowhere near as bad as I used to before adopting this routine.
Dave.

I bypassed the doctor and went straight to a podiatrist a few weeks before my Coast to Coast in September. He diagnosed collapsed foot arches and gave me some insoles to use, but said they normally take 5-6 weeks to get used to. I tried them out that weekend but as we were walking about 16 miles by then it was not easy to break them in gently. I called the podiatrist and he gave me some lighter, thinner ones and I had no problems on the walk luckily.

So definitely get it sorted sooner rather than later. You may only need one appointment to find out what it is and then get the correct support/insoles to sort it.

So is it better to have soft skin rather than hard skin when walking long distances? There seems to be conflicting opinions. Advice a while back was to apply surgical spirit for a couple of weeks before to harden the skin - not that I remembered to do this anyway!

Suffolk Strollers advice is sound. Why spend money on items which may not work when, for the same amount initially, you can get expert help.

What I do not understand is why my heals started to hurt in the first place. They were fine after a rest after my C2C. It wasn't until some time after that they started to play up. I am thinking amputation here...

You mention in your original post that your heel feels worse since buying the inserts. Even more reason to see an expert, you are assuming what is wrong with your feet, but you need to get a correct diagnosis before considering how best to treat them.

Hard skin, especially thick hard skin is not good, as after some miles it strts to irritate the underlying softer tissue and if walking many miles, without allowing recovery time, deep heel blisters can form (this is my problem). These type of blisters are not caused by friction, but by pressure from the outer hard skin on the softer skin below. They are not only difficult to treat while on the move but mich more painful than sirface blister which are easy to treat with the likes of Compeed etc.
Surgical spirit is good to use on the feet for a couple of weeks before a long walk. The spirit toughens the skin without hardening it. My foot skin especially at the wear areas is already tough, so once I have got rid of the thick hard skin that easily builds up through years of the cycle of blistering and then losing the whole heel, I apply the moisturising cream to prevent the hard skin reforming.
Dave.

I have spoken to medical people, and they seem to think it is Plantar Fashiytus(dunno how to spell it).
My neighbour is a sports physio and has some exercise I can do. I believe it involves a golf ball......and not chasing it with a bat round a park before you ask.......and rolling it around my arch. I am naturally flat footed.

I might just have to take to walking on my hands.