Looking After Your Walking Boots

Despite how robust they may appear, even the Best Walking Boots will not look after themselves; it is important that you look after them with attentive care to make sure their lifetime is maximised.

When you get in from a day in your boots, don’t just leave them to be cleaned at another time; it is highly beneficial for you to get it over with and clean them as soon as possible. Do this with warm water and a brush, going between all the crevices to remove all the dirt. Especially if you have leather boots, you will find yourself exerting effort to remove the mud. Don’t just do the outside though, make sure the inside is cleaned also.

To dry your boots, do not leave it in heat as this can cause leather to crack and even change the shape of the boot. Doing this would make it much less durable and more uncomfortable. The best way of doing this would be leaving it to air dry and rolling up newspaper to place inside, soaking up the moisture.

Surprisingly, your Walking Boots can lose their level of waterproofness but there are ways to prevent this. After your boots have dried, apply a waterproofing product to your boot.

Leather boots should be using oil based products. There are many varieties of them available and are generally useful for keeping them supple and breathable. Nubuck is especially high maintenance so it is required to have a nubuck specific cleaning product. For synthetic materials, silicon is the best product for keeping them clean and reasonably waterproof.

Glamping: Fashionable Camping for The Modern Day

Blame Kate Moss and Glastonbury – glamping (or glamorous camping) is all the rage this year. It may be anathema to the purists but for anyone wanting the benefits of the great outdoors with none of the hardships, glamping is a godsend. Forget about damp sleeping bags, muddy camping mats and baked beans, glamping can be every bit as comfortable (or dare I say luxurious) as any boutique hotel.

Cooking on a camping holiday need no longer involve heating up a tin of soup or baked beans on the most basic of camping equipment. Some glamping locations provide cooking carts which look rather like an Aga on wheels with power provided by a wood burner which also heats water (presumably so that you can do the washing-up in your granite sink). Kitchen equipment is provided in bucketloads and extends to luxuries such as coffee grinder and glasses and ice buckets for your champagne. If you don’t fancy cooking, home cooked meals can often be delivered and if you can’t be bothered shopping then order a hamper which can be tailor made to suit your requirements.

There was a time when campers came home dirty. Then came queuing for the communal shower block. Glamping, however, means that you will have your own shower tent, flushing toilet and sometimes even your own hot tub under the stars.

When it comes to sleeping, no expense is spared with handmade four poster beds de rigueur in some locations. Forgotten the sleeping bag? Don’t worry since goose down duvets, Egyptian cotton sheets and feather pillows are provided too.

If a tent, however posh, is not for you then yurts and tepees are also available in various parts of the UK.

As you might imagine, glamping does not come cheap. Expect to pay around £600 for a high season 3 night weekend and £700 for a high season 4 night mid week stay. Prices are significantly cheaper out of peak season.