All hail new boots

Published 29 June 2014

New pair of Meindl boots

Regular readers may have noted a few comments about the state of my walking boots. The pair – purchased in 2011 a few months prior to me heading off on the Southern Upland Way – have been in a poor state for a while. Cracks in the leather made it almost impossible to keep water out, and an attempted patch up job using a mysterious product named “Shoe Goo”, had only made things worse.

My previous pair had been suffering for other year. I kept saying I’d get a new pair but never got round to it. But by the time my recent week in the Lake District had ended, it was clear they were in no fit state for any further walking. The leather was now coming off in chunks. On my final day in Ambleside I unceremoniously dumped them in a bin.

My hand was forced. With no boots, I had no options. I simply had to get a new pair. After a trip to Covent Garden (if you’re not familiar with London, the area around Covent Garden Market, in the West End, is – for some unknown reason – where most of the outdoor shops have clustered over the years) I found myself leaving a store with a brand new pair of Meindl Bhutans, which (coincidentally) I had read a blisteringly good review in Trail magazine whilst in the Lakes.

I am always nervous with new boots. They’re an expensive purchase. What happens if you’ve picked the wrong size, or the wrong pair. Catherine once managed to buy a pair that were slightly too small which she only found out too late, and with quite some pain.

And, of course, you only really know if they’re wrong when you set off out of the door – the point after which you can’t really take them back to the shop.

Thankfully I survived a whole day on the amazingly grueling Thames Path with no blisters, and no problems at all. They felt like a good, fine pair of boots and I can’t wait to get them somewhere more taxing.

My boots weren’t the only defunct piece of equipment from that Lakes trip. As previously noted, my camera broke as well. Say welcome then to the first ‘A Sunday Picture’ shot taken on my new camera – a Panasonic Lumix TZ60. I do apologise for it not being the most exciting snapshot…

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