A leather hide undergoes treatment

Leather is the single most important factor in determining a boot’s waterproof credentials. Good quality leather will give longer lasting waterproofing than any other material. Although bad leather can be waterproofed by adding synthetic lining it will only remain waterproof as long as the synthetic fibre lasts: there really is no substitute for good quality leather.

The best leather is known as ‘full grain’ leather, a term that is only correctly applied to the upper layer of leather from the unblemished hides of the best kept cows. Full grain leather gets its waterproofing qualities from the hide’s tough upper layer. Known as the epidermis, this is upper layer is where the skin’s tiny air holes narrow to the point where water cannot penetrate. The thicker the epidermis, the better quality and more waterproof the leather: simple as. Full grain leather can be buffed to make full grain nubuck which takes very well to waterproofing protective wax and is equally durable.

Full grain leather under the microscope: notice the small pores

Since its introduction as a useful term for distinguishing top quality leather, the term ‘full grain’ has fallen into misuse, in many cases being used in place of the old seal of quality ‘100% real leather’. Although many of the leathers described as ‘full grain’ are of good quality, the term should only be used in reference to the very best leather.

Often sold as full grain leather, ‘grain’ leather is the next rung down on the leather quality scale. Still perfectly OK for making boots, grain leather comes from thinner skinned cows (often from hotter countries) and has a thinner protective epidermis and hence is more susceptible to water. Boots made from lesser leathers tend to rely more heavily on supplementary synthetic waterproofing which, although effective for a while, will eventually fail leaving you in the long grass with wet feet.

Further down the scale are leather ‘splits’ which are taken from the inward facing side of the hide. What makes this leather worse than ‘full grain’? The answer lies in the skin’s tiny air holes mentioned earlier. Whereas with full grain leather the air holes become narrow and waterproof at the epidermis, leather splits, shorn of the epidermis, have air holes wide enough to let in water. Although comfortable and stylish (suede leather is made from leather ‘splits’) this makes split leather a poor material for boot manufacture. That said it can be, and often is, combined with synthetic material to bodge together a nearly-waterproof upper for cheaper boots.

Alternatives to full grain may be waterproof for a while but no ammount of synthetic insulation can substitute for the long term waterproof protection provided by quality full grain leather: bear this in mind when you’re next buying boots.

A modern OS Explorer Map

Interestingly, Ordnance Survey maps have their roots in the Jacobite rebellions of the 18^th century. Fearing the wrath of the Scottish Clan, the British government sanctioned the mapping of Scotland in order to give nervous British generals a strategic advantage in the event of further uprisings.

An olde Ordnance Survey map shows the historic town of Finchley which still exists to this day.

With Jacobite enthusiasm waning after defeat at Colluden, Ordnance Survey broadened its survey. Throughout the 19^th century OS charted the whole of the UK and, during the First World War, mapped areas of strategic importance in Europe. The Second World War saw their cartographic remit extend to Germany, France and the rest of Europe in preparation for the allied invasion.

Bumped from warfare’s centre stage by improved technology and the significantly reduced risk of Nazi invasion, Ordnance Survey focussed on the leisure market in the latter part of the 20^th century with their ‘Landranger’ and larger scale ‘Explorer’ maps.

Since the dawn of the GPS era many feared the death of paper OS maps but, as is always the case, the many were proved wrong. Hard-learnt lessons from the early days of the satnav era have seen many conscientious orienteers back up their hi-tech handhelds with a paper counterpart which has helped keep traditional map n’ compass navigation alive and well in the 21^st century.

In service of this time-honoured tradition, Loving Outdoors is now offering a range of Explorer OS maps in both standard and plastic coated ‘Active’ format; check them out by clicking here. If you can’t find the map you want give us a call on 0161 241 5500 and we’ll get it for you.

How can I begin to talk about Dunham Massey? What’s not to love?  I’ll start by saying it is in fact one of the gems of South Manchester. If you have not already been, why not?

I have visited Dunham Massey a few times now and each time it has been a very different day out. The first time I decided to go the forecast was bleak. The day started with rain and ended with even more rain. Needless to say I was soaked, but that did not stop me having one of my best days out in a long time.

If you have never seen deer in the wild and want to see or perhaps even get close to some fallow deer this is the place to go. Overall the park is not huge which is handy as the deer tend to move around quite a lot, avoiding the kids that tend to think its a good idea to scream and run at a 80kg Buck.

The main aim of my trip to was to photograph deer for my portfolio. I wanted to get shots as natural as possible with little human impact which meant getting closer to the deer sanctuary areas. As with all wildlife photography you can never be certain how the day will end. I’ve spent many days sat in the cold not moving waiting for that perfect shot, only to be left pointing my camera at grass where an animal once was.

The deer were surprisingly cooperative and obviously did not mind having their photo taken. The first time I went I came back with the shots I had envisioned, although there was a bit of running round to be done along with crawling through mud in the wet; but that’s all part of the fun. The best advice I can give anyone wanting to photograph deer is to not wear anything that makes too much noise as their hearing is incredibly sensitive and they can often disappear before you have even lifted the camera to your face.

Stay still, be patient and don’t push your luck. If the deer don’t want you pointing your camera at them, move on and find another deer. Personally I found the large bucks were less bothered about me snapping away. I took a couple of thousand photos and narrowed it down to my favourite twenty or so.

If you find you want a break from chasing deer around the park there is always a nice little cafe where you can grab a bite, or maybe you’ll want to see the gardens and house, especially if its wet and miserable outside.  There is an additional charge to enter the house and garden areas.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your walking boots and give Dunham Massey a visit, I promise you won’t be disappointed

Thank you for taking your time to read through my article and let me know how you get on.

Best times to visit : Autumn although I had great success in October

Car Park Charges : £5

House and garden: adult £10 , child £5 (£4.50), family £25 (£22.60).

Garden: adult £7 (£6.35), child £3.50 (£3.15), family £17.50 (£15.85).

Estate entry – cars : adult £5.

To see more of Ryan’s work visit www.flickr.com/rtjdesign

The Loving Outdoors team pre race

On Wednesday the Loving Outdoors team went sailing on Redesmere in Cheshire. We arrived at 2pm to a deserted lake and glorious sunshine. Peeling the covers off 2 boats of the GP14 class- a 2-berth dinghy with 2 sails- we watched as Scott talked us through rigging up the sails. We then piled in one boat for a tentative lap of the lake with Scott at the helm. After a tentative lap of the lake we retuned to the jetty to sail for real. Luckily, by this time one of the club members had arrived who was able to correct the errors in our attempted rigging. Couldn’t help noticing he was wearing a pair of Regatta Formation, “hmmm, nifty” I thought to myself and with that we set sail.

Within minutes both parties had mastered the art of sailing and were making headway up and down the lake at a good speed of 6 knots. After a few minutes’ tranquil sailing a race was proposed: up the lake, round the buoy, past the club house and back. A stiff gust of wind marked the beginning of the race and both boats were off to a flying start. The aggressive manoeuvres of our competitors soon made it clear that sport was not the main agenda for this race. Cutting across the wind they turned into our starboard side threatening a ramming manoeuvre- we called their bluff and held our course forcing our rivals into second place.

After rounding the first buoy a fortuitous gust of wind fills our sails to give us a comfortable lead. Lost in the thrill of the race we’re oblivious to the water pouring in through the unstanched plug hole and lapping at our ankles. Our opponents’ superior straight-line speed let us know something might be wrong. They pass us on the starboard side and throw a sarcastic wave in the direction of our struggling craft. We fix the leak, bail out the water and soon we’re back on the pace terrorizing our rivals’ stern. They round the second buoy slightly ahead of us but a poorly thought-out turn exit sees us sail right by leaving them for spray. With victory in our sights we head for the club house and the finish line.

Suddenly the wind drops and starts up in the other direction. Our sail flapping madly our sturdy 6 knots dwindles and we’re blown into the shallows. Seeing the sandy bottom of the lake just six inches below the surface we retract the centre board and get the oars out- we need to take immediate evasive action or we’ll be fish food. We apply full right rudder and spin ourselves away from the shore with a couple of stiff oar strokes. A lucky gust puts us momentarily back in running before our opponents cross the finish line. We coast home, soaking up the last of the day’s sun before admitting defeat and heading back to the jetty.

All in all it was a nice day and although we may have been bettered by our opponents, the true winner of the day was sailing. It’s a relaxing activity best experienced at a relaxed pace and not under race conditions.

Well, I’ve now done 14 weeks in this country and my feelings havw completely changed. If I look back, during my two first weeks I’d never felt so lost in all my life. I wasn’t able to understand anybody in Manchester and my only wish was to take a plane as quick as possible and never come back. The problem now is, I still have 10 weeks in England and I’m enjoying it so much I think it won’t be enough!

Why Manchester? My choice was based on music, I play the cornet and I knew that around Manchester there is many Brass Bands to play with. I found one and I’m enjoying a lot of events with English people. Music offered a great opportunity because, with the school I was before you can only meet other foreigners and have no chance to have some really English experiences. People in England are very friendly, they made me feel at home in a short time and are always helpful.

The UK is a beautiful country, I’ve visited some other places since April and every city I’ve went to was exciting. A month ago I visited London, it’s a too big a city for me- I’m not used to it- but I saw a lot of very interesting things. I had the chance to be at the Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard, went to Wembley stadium and enjoyed a nice party in a traditional English pub. I didn’t see as many things as I could in London because I went to watch the England vs Switzerland football match on the Saturday and wasn’t in a fit state to do much on Sunday. We have a saying in Switzerland that the English are as wet on the inside as the outside- after visiting a traditional English pub I think I understand what this means!

I went also to York, it was a very sunny day (so unusual!). I did really enjoy the tranquillity of the city and the many ancient buildings like York Cathedral, the castle and the city wall. I visited many more things than in London and enjoyed a tour on a boat.

Finally, I visited Northern Ireland from where I have just returned. I can’t feel my feet anymore- I walked all weekend in that wonderful city, with incredible weather throughout. The Northern Irish accent in English was difficult for me to understand but they were still friendly even with my difficulty understanding.

As for Manchester, it’s not an especially beautiful city but you’re never bored. Every day something happens, if you don’t know what to do just go to Piccadilly Gardens, walk in any direction and you’ll see something interesting. For example, people singing or playing any instruments or if you just want to speak with someone, just go to a pub take a pint and start talking. It might be surprising, but I’m not going to moan too much about the weather or food in England (I’m not sure many other foreigners would agree with me). Of course, at the beginning it took time to get used to the food, but if you forget your stereotype about it your can find some good English dishes. I really like the English breakfast, fish and chips, meat pies, etc… The only problem, it’s all very unhealthy!

If I was writing this piece two months ago it would not be so positive but now I’m sure that England will never stop surprising me and making me enjoying it.

Loïc

Hi, my name is Loïc, I’m from the wonderful Swiss countryside on the French-speaking west-side of Switzerland. I’ve been in Manchester for 3 month at a language school and now I’m doing an internship with the Loving Outdoors Team where I will stay for a further 3 months trying to improve my English. When my colleagues told me: “Hey, you can write a blog about outdoors activities in your country!”, I just thought: “What a huge subject!!”.

Switzerland has much more than just mountains, banks, cheese and chocolate…  there’s also a lot of activities in the summer, like on the beach (I’m not joking, we really have beaches in Switzerland), in our beautiful forests and, of course, in the mountains.

Usually, when I tell someone that I’m from Switzerland, they say: “Is it not too cold to live there?”

But, contrary to what people think, the weather is nice. Yes, in the winter when you are in high altitude it’s freezing but the climate is varied: we have cold winters which bring snow and give the possibility to go skiing but the summer is hot enough to enjoy beaches and swim in the lakes.

So, the Swiss beaches are on lakes where so many activities and events happen. You can swim in the lake, go wake-boarding, water-skiing, play beach-volley or just enjoy the sun.

The SWATCH Free4Style is an internationally renowned sport event which takes place on the beach, where there are four competitions: FMX (freestyle motocross), Wake-board, Jet Ski and Skateboard.

In the forests, you can go rambling or there are adventure parks where you have to move from tree to tree using zip lines and wood bridges that are suspended between 5 and 20 meters from the ground.

When was a young child, I used to go in the forest several times with my father to walk or to go mushroom picking. And, even now, I often go to walk on Sunday in the forest to enjoy nature. If you’re lucky when you go in the forest you might see some animals crossing your way.

And finally, the Swiss mountains! In the summer you can still have a lot of fun in the mountains by climbing, hiking, riding mountain-bikes and paragliding. During all these activities you will enjoy the breathtaking landscapes on the top of the mountain.

The mountains cover a big part of the country. For me the view you see is extraordinary. Another thing which is pleasant is the tranquillity of the mountains- you’re far from the noise of the cities and you can take a breath of fresh air.

The advantage of Switzerland with all these activities is that as the country is small everything is close. (Why are your still reading my blog and not booking a flight to Switzerland?????)

Loïc

Weil’s Disease or Leptospirosis is an infectious disease that can be passed on to humans like you and me by infected animal urine coming into contact with broken skin or mucus membranes such as those found on the human eyes and in the mouth. Once absorbed into the body, the Leptospirosis germs wreak havoc, enlarging the spleen and causing high fever, muscle aches, vomiting and in extreme cases, liver failure.

Leptospirosis

As a water-bound infection, Weil’s disease is chiefly a concern for the more amphibious outdoor-goers with freshwater swimmers and white-water rafters particularly at risk. That’s not to say that land lubbers are entirely safe from horrible Weil’s disease. There have been many reported cases of dogs transmitting infection by licking infected wee and then licking their owner’s eye, mouth or open wound. Man’s best friend? I think not!

Lyme Disease or Lyme borreliosis is a nasty little disease passed on by ticks with symptoms including headaches, fever and, in some cases, mental psychosis.

A tick

Ticks like warm and sticky environments and have a particular fondness for woodland areas and, unfortunately for us
humans, underarm and groin areas. After latching onto the skin, the clever tick injects its own anaesthetic before boring its feeding tube proboscis into the flesh for a macabre feast.

Infection initially manifests itself in flu-like symptoms which develop into high fever as the disease takes hold. The skin around the bite area turns an angry red with blisters forming on other body parts. If left untreated, infection can also spread to the brain causing lasting mental illness.

Fortunately, prevention is easy. Blood is very easy to come by in the countryside- cows have it, sheep have it, even rats and mice have it. Even voles. With all this blood around, ticks never struggle for food so if you make your blood difficult to obtain, chances are ticks will go elsewhere. Trousers, shoes, socks and long sleeves are all ways of guarding your blood from the tick’s greedy proboscis.

Far more susceptible are your pets; ticks particularly enjoy drinking the blood of dogs and will slurp away at Fido without a second thought for his mental health. Though it may be more difficult to guard the blood of dogs, so long as rigorous tick-checks are made after woodland walks, your pooch should be safe.

Horrible liver fluke

Liver Fluke or Fasciola hepatica are small leech-like parasites that pass on infection by chewing their way through their host’s duodenum- charming! Like Leptospirosis, Fasciola hepatica is transmitted through water and can be picked up in streams (particularly those with dead sheep in), sheep droppings (so don’t eat those) and vegetables wet with infected water. Aside from a half-eaten duodenum, long-term effects include liver damage and anaemia. Prevention is easy with water purification tablets coupled with a rigorous food hygiene regime.

We hope our countryside disease factsheet has been informative and helpful. But however important it may be to be aware of countryside dangers, don’t let that awareness turn to worry: plenty of people escape the countryside unharmed every year.

Keep loving outdoors,

Tim

Loving Outdoors      

Alkrington Woods

With ancient woodland, an 18^th century Manor house and a cluster of picturesque lakes and reservoirs, Alkrington Woods is a hugely diverse and beautiful nature spot that provided me with a realm of adventure and discovery on my doorstep. It was in these woods under the watchful eye of the overlooking manor house that I first experienced the rush of sledging, that I first learned to ride a bike and that I was first roughed up by feared local street gang, the Alky* Boys.

In its dense wooded areas ancient oaks and beech trees carpet the ground with their seeds, saplings taking root where the sun breaks through the crowded canopy. A time-worn woodland path through the ancient trees leads to an expanse of raised marshy heath land overlooking the river Irk 100ft below. Here, the many species of grass are home to myriad species of insect making it a great place to spot birds hunting for a bit to eat. On winter mornings the mystery of the silent mists that rise from the heath’s marshlands can’t fail to stop you in your tracks.

Descending to the reservoir one can find families of swans and ducks and, on hot sunny days, fish can be seen basking near the surface. Crossing the river takes you into a maze of lakes and reservoirs separated by narrow footpaths and o’er draped with weeping willows. Herons, teals, moorhens, bluetits and swallows are all common sights here, as are birdwatchers scouting for our lesser-spotted winged friends.

*Slang for Alkrington, not alcoholic, as might have been more appropriate.

Heaton Park

Although not a nature spot per se, Heaton Park is nevertheless a place of beauty enjoyed by Mancunians from Blackley to Bramall and beyond. Originally the site of stately home Heaton Hall, Heaton Park- the largest municipal park in all of Europe- boasts botanical gardens, petting zoo, a boating lake and even the odd rock concert (Ice-T, Oasis, The White Stripes and Northside have all played there) making it one of Manchester’s main attractions.

With all this activity you’d think Heaton Park would be a rather chaotic place offering little respite from the arduous bustle of city life but, of course, you’d be wrong. Although besieged by troops of sunburned topless men on hot days, most of the time Heaton Park is an oasis of Victorian tranquillity, all huge lawns, neat hedgerows and wide walkways. Climbing up to the distinctive Heaton Park ‘Temple’ (the highest point in Manchester) offers panoramic views of the surrounding area- on a clear day it’s possible to see as far as Oldham and, looking the other way, Sainsbury’s.

One of the most intriguing things about Heaton Park is its history. A little detective works reveals the park’s involvement with some of history’s most dramatic chapters- it was used as a training ground and airfield in WW1 and 2 respectively. The park’s historical main event, Heaton Hall, was built in 1790 and evinces that period’s renewed fascination with the natural world. The hall is situated to offer a view of idyllic nature that edited out the ‘Dark Satanic Mills’ of  Manchester’s burgeoning cotton industry. Although now in need of a facelift, the Hall and its recently restored grounds offer a great window on the past making Heaton Park a much valued asset to Manchester.

Chorlton Water Park

Although North Manchester is clearly the better endowed when it comes to urban nature spots, the South side of the city also has its green charms with Chorlton Waterpark its jewel-in-the-crown. Backing onto the Mersey Valley, Chorlton Waterpark is the gateway to a wildlife ‘corridor’ stretching all the way to Sale Water Park. The park’s central lake bustles with all kinds of water sports with armadas of canoes, kayaks and sailboats regular sights. It’s also a popular fishing venue and teems with coarse fish such as Roach and Rudd. Probably best avoided at night though, if rumours are to be believed.

Since first becoming a dedicated nature reserve in the 1950s, Chorlton Water Park has become noted for its biodiversity and the myriad bird species that use the park as a nesting ground throughout the year. Recent years have seen the arrival of pochards as well as increases in heron and, since the launch of the ‘Project Bullfinch’ conservation drive, bullfinch populations to make the Mersey Valley area a big draw amongst birdwatchers. It’s also popular with kids, with the warden’s office running many activities for children during summer holidays. Bird watching taster courses and nature walks offer kids a great introduction to ideas of biodiversity and respect for nature.

We want to know more about the nation’s parks and nature spots. Tell us a little about the parks in your area and we’ll send you something in return: a cap, a book, something like that.

11.30

We arrive at the Keswick mountain festival. Not much going on at the moment. We set our stall out in the rain not feeling overly chuffed. A breakfast butty from the burger van cheers us up and the beauty of our surroundings suddenly dawns on us. Our plot is on the shore of Derwentwater and we are hemmed in by undulating green mountains. The weather might be miserable but the scenery is breathtaking.

1pm

With camp set up I drop in on our neighbours for the weekend Woodsmoke Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival. They’re demonstrating the ancient bow-drill technique- a way of making fire by rubbing sticks together. After explaining the equipment to his small but engrossed audience, Ben sets to work. He twists the drill into the string of the bow and which he then inserts into a small plank called a hearth. He holds the drill in place with a block of wood in his other hand and begins bowing. After surprisingly little time smoke starts to rise from the hearth. Spurred on by the smell of smoke he ups the pace of his bowing to frenzied. Smoke beings to pump furiously from the hearth- we have ignition. Ben tells us that, having reached 600 degrees centigrade, the wood dust produced by the friction of drilling begins to burn and will continue to do so. He removes the smoking ember from the ember tray, places it carefully into a ball of hay and gently blows. Smoke quickly engulfs the hay and the ember glows red. A couple more blows and the hay catches fire. “And that’s one of the defining things that makes us human” Ben remarks, as enchanted by the flame as his audience. We stare at the dying flame and ponder our continuity with the ancients. Afterwards I have a go myself. A lot of huffing and puffing later I manage to produce smoke but no fire, disproving a well known turn of phrase. Later on Steve fashions a spoon from a piece of wood to the amazement of onlookers. Look up Woodsmoke Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival- they offer bushcraft courses at really reasonable rates and they’re amazingly skilled.

5pm

Having introduced a number of passers-by to the GUV, Tom and I head to the climbing wall for a crack at the boulder challenge. It’s closed so we go for a pint instead. There’s an acoustic act onstage in the bar tent. We listen outside for the duration of our pints. They play well known Bob Dylan and Bob Marley songs in their own style inspiring ripples of applause in the tired audience. We look on aghast as a few brave souls take to the ice cold lake for an early evening swim. As the sun disappears being the clouds cold descends on Derwentwater and we retire to the van for our evening meal- a strange but not unpleasant improvised veggie sausage and pasta dish.

8.30pm

Our bellies full of strange food we head into Keswick for a few beers. There are a huge number of great looking pubs- what we culturally deprived city folk call ‘proper’ pubs- and a great selection of beers on offer in each. We plum for the Dog and Gun and several pints of a locally brewed ale which, in testament to its potency, I am unable to remember the name of. There were some foolish plans made for us to “definitely, unequivocally and without doubt” go for a morning dip in Derwentwater which thankfully, at time of writing, remain unfulfilled. Having spent one night in The GUV, I am able to inform you that sleeping arrangements are surprisingly comfortable and not half as cosy (in the negative sense) as I’d imagined- I woke refreshed and, after one of Tom’s far-too-salty egg butties, ready for action.

Saturday 10AM

A decent turnout already. Swimmers in wetsuits ready themselves for today’s lake swimming event- a quick paddle round Derwent Isle. Dipping a cautious toe into the lake I am able to surmise that all contestants are completely insane or Rambo- it’s utterly, utterly cold. An hour or so later the swimmers return, wet-suited to the waist and ripped like you wouldn’t believe.

12pm

The festival seems to have picked up a bit today so we check out some of the activities on offer. The extreme unicycle display team. They have 3 platforms set up which they jump about on whilst riding their unicycles. One of them is able to spin his unicycle underneath him whilst riding it which is pretty extreme and gets the clap-shy crowd a bit more into the festival spirit. With our previous concept of unicycling blown apart we head to climbing attraction for a bash at the boulder challenge. The challenge is to climb all the way around a huge boulder without touching the floor. Although fun, it’s far too hard and we eventually give up. A couple of kids claimed to have done it but there’s no way I believe them. We’ll try again tomorrow.

1pm

The first of the day’s rain. And howling wind. The crowd soon thins out. We stand firm bracing ourselves against gale force winds and sideways rain. Not weather conducive to a festival atmosphere. The compere tries his to buoy the flagging crowd with energetic commentary but many flee. To warm up we have another go at fire starting using the bow drill technique, this time with total success. A crowd gathers, spellbound by our promethean power and gawps in awe as flames burst from our fingertips. Ray Mears is here too.

4pm

With the rain reaching Old Testament levels we admit defeat and settle down for brews before the inevitable mooch to the pub. The sound of ill-advised cover versions drifts from the bar tent and mist fills the surrounding valleys. Wetness pervades.

9pm

We visit Keswick’s foremost nightspot, the Loft. It’s packed to the rafters and booming with revellers. We think about dancing but are unable to through lack of inclination- unwilling dancers are easy to spot. We get a text from Scott telling us the campsite is under siege from gale force winds uprooting tents and generally being a nuisance. We drain our pints and bounce back to campsite to survey the carnage.

9am

The morning reveals the full extent of last night’s wind bashing. Tents have been reduced to sticks and rags and those still standing are being dismantled by the thwarted. With the festival site emptying fast we decide to head for home but not before watching a some of the triathlon. For those who don’t know, a triathlon is a three part endurance event consisting of a swimming leg, a cycling leg and a running leg.  I don’t use the word ‘endurance’ lightly either; the swimming leg alone was a mile long in freezing water and driving rain and wind, then there’s miles of cycling and running to contend with. Getting though demands amazing fitness, not to mention determination: the crowd know it and cheer on contestants as they pass.

11.30am

Back on the road again. The 3 hours home are passed playing chess and marvelling at the Lakeland scenery. Doesn’t matter how many times you see it, the Lakes never fail to astound. Wind may have stopped play this year but the overall experience was  certainly a positive one- we learned to make fire, we had a welcome break from the office and the GUV proved a success- we’ll certainly return next year for more, come rain or shine…

Season’s greetings! It’s that special time of year when it becomes obligatory to pack your tent, some lagers and travel to a field to listen to pop music for 2 to 3 days- that’s right- festival season is here again!

They all come out of the woodwork at festival time: people with dreadlocks, people who are able to juggle- even people who can breathe fire! With all this craziness going on it’s important you keep your head and are well prepared – here’s our Festival Survival Guide for 2011!

Hydration

Be it Coldplay or Feeder, when you’re spellbound by your favourite festival band it’s easy to forget to maintain your body’s fluid levels. It’s surprising how quickly dehydration can take hold in the searing heat of the British Summertime. Year in, year out, festival first-aid tents are filled to bursting point with wilted people either too spellbound or just too silly to maintain necessary fluid levels.

Luckily supermarkets are on hand with an effective, not to mention enjoyable solution. Available in crates of 24, 8 or 6, tins of lager provide a tasty and cost-effective means of maintaining hydration levels for anyone over the age of 18. With more than a crillion cans drunk at British festivals each year, the drinking of fizzy lager is an extremely popular way of wetting the whistle and with more and more supermarkets offering cut price booze, this year promises to be the most lager-fuelled yet.

To avoid excessive hydration Loving Outdoors recommend that you supplement your beer intake with regular meals washed down with plenty of water. You could also use Nuun supplements which, when added to water, enrich it with electrolytes and delicious flavour to enhance its hydrating potential and potability. Not sure how well they work with lager though…perhaps some research is needed.

Accommodation

Unless you’re a famous pop star like Beyonce, chances are you’ll stay in a tent at this year’s festival. “No problem,” you might think, “a night under canvas is nothing new to me”, but you would be wrong- festival campsites are a far cry from the campsites that seasoned outdoor folk like you and I are accustomed to.

You might have camped on the Antarctic Tundra or the on Neptune or on the Somme- there’s little can prepare you for the conditions on festival campsites. The night-long thud of “music wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” makes sleep a near impossibility and with squalor approaching Black Death levels, festival camping certainly isn’t for the faint hearted.

In these lawless places, choice of tent is critical. The last thing you want is to have your beloved hi-performance tent wrecked by a stampede of frenzied bedreadlocked anarchists. Better that you take something a little more expendable- something along the lines of Outwell’s Easy Camp range. At a shade over £50 the 3-berth Outwell Easy Camp is an absolute bargain and with a coated, polyester fly sheet and robust construction is both waterproof and hardy enough to meet the demands of festival camping year after year.

Food

Getting a decent meal at a festival is costly and difficult. With a captive audience, festivals spawn their own hyper-inflated economies where buying burgers requires a mortgage and falafel is pound-for-pound more valuable than gold.

It’s a cruel and exploitative situation but one that can be avoided with careful preparation and the right equipment. Throw an Esbit cookset into your backpack with a few vegetables and a bag of pasta and you’ll be able to cook nutritious, if slightly bland, pasta based meals all weekend long. Not only is this a great way to feed yourself but also gives the illusion of subverting the capitalist system which, after all, is what festivals are all about.

Weather

In keeping with the anarchic bent of British festival culture, the weather during festival season is utterly unpredictable. Anyone who has ever watched TV coverage of Glastonbury will know how drastically things can change at festivals – one minute you’re sunning yourself to the sounds of the Stereophonics, the next you’re wallowing in a bog of eternal stench- in such an unstable climate it’s essential that you’re adequately prepared for every meteorological eventuality. Ensure that you have with you: sun cream, wellies, sun hat, waterproof jacket, sun glasses, rain glasses, snow shoes, ice-pick, radiation suit…you never can be overprepared where British weather is concerned.

Of course, as important as being prepared is, it’s worth remembering that festivals are all about cutting loose and relaxing in the presence of your favourite bands and many thousands of drunken revellers. Perhaps the most important preparation, therefore, is mental: prepare yourself for fun, prepare yourself for laughs and prepare yourself for the unexpected- you never know, it might just happen!

Tim

Loving Outdoors