Posted by Robert Dilley on October 20, 2004 at 18:52:25 from 65.39.13.79 user rdilley.
In Reply to: Re: Pretentious Sailing (was Coarse xxx) posted by Peter H on October 18, 2004 at 23:37:25:
Peter H "cannot think of a pretentious way to get up a fell - you either reach the top or you don't. Nobody really cares how you're dressed.".
First time we were all in the UK as a family (1988) we managed to buy decent hiking boots for all four of our daughters (aged 2 to 7). The next year we were in the Canadian Rockies and took them on a popular but -- at their age -- fairly strenuous hike. The European and Japanese people we met mostly admired our well-equipped young hikers, but a number of North Americans, dressed in spandex shorts and plastic flip-flops, sneered as they passed: "Where do they think they're going ... climbing Everest?" was among the nicer comments.
So, at least on this side of the Atlantic, some people do think you can dressed pretentiously for fell walking.
Incidentally, we bought the boots at a wonderful little town in Somerset (I was on leave at the University of Exeter) called Street. It is the home of Clark's shoes, and every second store along the main street was a shoe store with quite amazing bargains (I say "was" because I haven't been back and do not know if the modern world has overtaken the place). We bought four sets of hiking boots for less than the price of one pair in nearly Taunton -- yet the shoe stores in Taunton were busy, with people who doubtless felt that the 20 km to Street was too far to go.
That was the trip when we announced that we were going to visit Blenheim Palace, just outside Oxford. "Oh, yes," people said, "How long are you going to be away for?" When we explained it was just a day trip we got horrified silence followed by expostulations. "Did we know it was well over 100 miles each way?" "Well, yes. Where we come from people go that far in the evening for a beer." End of conversation. Perception of distance varies. Any antipodean TARS noticed that in visits between Australia and New Zealand?