Hikerdelic Journal

Friday Film - Kes (1969)

Not every film that inspires Hikerdelic needs to be a direct influence. It doesn't need to be set in the outdoors, with boots and jackets on show, at least not always. In these times of CGI blockbusters about superheroes, Kes stands up as something altogether more real. Put together by the wonderful Ken Loach in an age before Gore-Tex and hiking for leisure really took hold, it's the perfect example that adventure can be found in ordinary places. Sometimes all you need is a field, a bit of imagination and, in the case of Billy Casper, a kestrel you've pinched from a nest. Released in 1969, Kes is one of the finest British films ever made. It's also, in its own understated way, one of the best films about the relationship between people and nature. Not the sort of nature you see in outdoor clothing adverts, with dramatic mountains and suspiciously attractive people looking windswept. This is nature as it exists on the edges of ordinary life. Scruffy fields, patches of woodland and the bits of countryside that haven't yet been swallowed up by housing estates. Based on Barry Hines' novel A Kestrel for a Knave, the film follows Billy Casper, a fifteen-year-old growing up in a South Yorkshire mining community. School is miserable, home life isn't much better, and the expectation is that he'll eventually follow previous generations into the coal industry. Then Billy discovers a kestrel nesting in a ruined building and begins teaching himself the ancient art of falconry. Suddenly, he's found something he's good at. He borrows books from the library, studies the techniques involved in training birds of prey and develops an extraordinary understanding of an animal most people around him barely notice. In one particularly memorable classroom scene, Billy describes training Kes with a confidence and enthusiasm entirely absent from his usual schoolwork. It's also an important illustration of how intelligence doesn't always reveal itself in conventional education. The film also offers a fascinating portrait of working-class access to the countryside. Billy doesn't belong to a rambling club, spend weekends in the Lake District or own any specialist outdoor equipment. The landscape is simply there, on the doorstep of the community where he lives. For generations of working-class children, the outdoors meant the rough ground behind the houses, the local woods, the disused railway line or the fields separating one town from another. Places to explore without requiring much money or adult supervision. Kes captures northern England at the end of the sixties, where coal mines, terraced housing and green fields existed side by side. The clothing is equally ordinary: school uniforms, simple knitwear and practical garments. And then there's Brian Glover's magnificent performance as PE teacher Mr Sugden. His football lesson, in which he appoints himself Bobby Charlton and generally behaves as though he's playing in the World Cup final, remains one of British cinema's funniest and most memorable scenes. But beneath the humour, Kes is a story about adventure and freedom. At home and school, Billy has little control over his circumstances. Out in the fields, training his kestrel, he discovers patience, responsibility and a sense of purpose. More than fifty years later, it's a reminder that the outdoors doesn't have to be a destination. Sometimes the most meaningful adventures happen much closer to home. Who cares what you're wearing?

Friday Film - The Goonies (1985)

There are some films you happen upon while surfing the multitude of channels on your Sky Box. As you make good your escape from almost anything that could be termed ‘reality TV’, there’s always a chance you’ll land on a film you’ve seen dozens of times before, yet still find yourself leaving it on and if you’re paying attention, you’ll see another layer you didn’t notice the previous times you watched it. The Goonies is a total classic. Despite being set stateside, it captures a universal spirit of adventure we can all get behind. There was a time when being a child meant leaving the house in the morning, disappearing for several hours and returning home with a grazed knee and stories. Nobody knew exactly where you'd been, and provided you arrived home before it got dark, nobody seemed particularly bothered. Life seemed safer back then. The Goonies takes this approach to childhood freedom and pushes it to its logical conclusion, involving pirate treasure, underground tunnels, organised crime and a large man called Sloth. Released in 1985 and directed by Richard Donner, the film follows a group of children from Astoria, Oregon, who discover an old treasure map and set off on an adventure that makes your average Duke of Edinburgh expedition look like a supervised visit to the garden centre. Their neighbourhood is threatened by redevelopment, their families face losing their homes, and the only apparent solution involves finding the lost fortune of a seventeenth-century pirate called One-Eyed Willy. Obviously. What's particularly brilliant about The Goonies is that its characters look exactly like ordinary American children from the mid-eighties. Nobody appears to have been styled by a fashion editor. Their clothes are a mixture of sportswear, denim, colourful windbreakers and whatever happened to be available in their bedrooms that morning. Mikey's yellow rain jacket is particularly good, while Data's gadget-covered outfit suggests somebody who's spent rather too much time studying the contents of a Radio Shack catalogue. The clothing reflects a period when outdoor equipment was becoming increasingly visible in everyday American life. Lightweight synthetic jackets, trainers and practical backpacks were no longer exclusively associated with hiking or camping. They were simply things people wore. And the film is all the better for it. Astoria itself deserves a mention. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the Oregon town provides a wonderfully atmospheric setting of wooden houses, steep streets, coastal weather and dense greenery. The surrounding Pacific Northwest landscape looks exactly like the sort of place where you might reasonably expect to discover a forgotten pirate ship. There is also a faint whiff of the combustible relationship between the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy, painting the main protagonists as underdogs, which only helps you root for them. The film subsequently became so closely associated with Astoria that fans began making pilgrimages to its filming locations. The Goonies house remains one of the town's best-known landmarks, although visitors should remember that it's a private residence. Don’t be rocking up in your hawaiian shirt doing truffle shuffles. If you’re of a certain age and you’ve got your own kids, nieces and nephews, this is a perfect leveller. They want to watch Spiderman, you think it’s pathetic. You suggest this and hand them their new favourite film without them knowing it. It's adventure in its purest, and possibly most irresponsible, form and it’s relatable to most people no matter what age they are. But there's something worth remembering about the excitement of exploring somewhere simply because you don't know what's around the corner. The Goonies is a film about friendship, imagination and the sort of freedom that becomes increasingly difficult to recreate as you get older. It's also a reminder that you don't necessarily need expensive outdoor equipment to have an adventure.One of our taglines references Adventure in Ordinary places. If there’s one film that does that, it’s The Goonies.

Friday Film - Jaws (1975)

There are many reasons to watch Jaws. The performances are excellent, the soundtrack is arguably one of the most recognisable in cinema history, and the shark itself remains a deeply unpleasant proposition, despite occasionally looking like something you might encounter at the end of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. In these days of CGI and AI, that mechanical beast and its slightly unnatural movements feels somehow as reassuring as it is scary. But this is Hikerdelic and with that in mind, there's another reason to revisit Steven Spielberg's 1975 masterpiece. The clothes are absolutely brilliant. Not in the carefully considered, stylistically coordinated way that modern cinema sometimes approaches costume design. Quite the opposite. The characters in Jaws look like people who have got dressed for the day without giving much thought to how they might appear in a film that would eventually become one of the most successful of all time. And that's precisely what makes them interesting. Chief Martin Brody, played by Roy Scheider, spends much of the film looking like an ordinary middle-aged man who's been given an increasingly unreasonable set of responsibilities. His clothes are practical, understated and occasionally slightly too warm for the weather. Matt Hooper, Richard Dreyfuss's enthusiastic marine biologist, has a wardrobe that suggests a man who knows his way around an outdoor equipment catalogue. He's younger, wealthier and technically knowledgeable, with the kind of relaxed coastal clothing that would look entirely at home in a contemporary menswear editorial. Then there's Quint. Played magnificently by Robert Shaw, Quint is the sort of man who appears to have been assembled from rope, salt water and several decades of unresolved personal grievances. His clothes are an extension of his character. Worn work shirts, practical layers, battered headwear and heavy-duty garments that have clearly spent more time at sea than most of us would consider reasonable. He looks like a fisherman because he is a fisherman. It's a distinction worth making.Plus Robert Shaw was somewhat inexplicably born in Bolton, which is only a few miles from where we sit here at Hikerdelic. Seriously, look it up. Much of what we now recognise as classic menswear began life as clothing designed for people who had considerably more important things to worry about than looking fashionable. Sailors, fishermen, dockworkers and other maritime trades required garments capable of surviving prolonged exposure to wind, rain, cold and physical labour. The resulting clothing was generally simple, robust and built around function. Heavy woollen sweaters became particularly associated with maritime life, although different regions developed their own traditions. The cable-knit Aran sweater, for example, is closely connected to Ireland's western islands, while the tightly knitted guernsey or gansey has a long history among fishing communities around the British coast. The distinctions between these garments are often blurred in contemporary fashion, where almost anything vaguely nautical tends to be described as a fisherman's jumper. But their histories are worth understanding. A traditional gansey was knitted densely enough to offer useful protection against the elements, with construction details designed around the demands of working life. Patterns varied between communities and makers, and the garments became an important part of the visual identity of Britain's fishing towns. Today, similar designs can be found in expensive boutiques, usually accompanied by descriptions involving words like heritage, authenticity and timelessness. Quint would probably have found this hilarious. What's remarkable about Jaws is how effectively its costumes establish the differences between its three principal characters. Brody represents authority, albeit authority that is increasingly out of its depth. Hooper represents science, education and modern expertise. Quint represents experience, instinct and a form of traditional knowledge acquired through years of doing something rather than reading about it. Their clothing reflects these differences without ever needing to draw attention to itself. It's an unusually convincing portrayal of the relationship between work and dress. The film's setting is equally important. Amity Island is a fictional New England resort community whose economy depends on the arrival of summer visitors. Its beaches, harbour and coastal businesses are presented as an idyllic destination, at least until an unusually determined great white shark begins causing problems for the local tourism industry. The conflict between public safety and commercial interests forms much of the film's tension. Mayor Larry Vaughn's determination to keep the beaches open is often remembered as a particularly spectacular example of political shortsightedness. But it also reflects the economic realities of communities that depend heavily on seasonal tourism. The beach is simultaneously a natural environment, a place of recreation and a commercial asset. For visitors, the sea represents freedom and relaxation. For fishermen, it represents work. For the shark, it represents somewhere to have lunch. These competing relationships with the same environment are central to the film. They're also a useful reminder that our romantic view of coastal life rarely accounts for the realities of those who work there. Fishing remains one of the world's most hazardous occupations. The traditional clothing associated with maritime labour developed in response to conditions that were often cold, exhausting and dangerous. That much of this clothing has subsequently been adopted by people whose closest encounter with the sea involves a weekend in Whitby is one of the more entertaining developments in menswear history. Of course, Jaws is also a film about masculinity. The three men aboard the Orca represent competing ideas about what it means to be capable. Hooper has technology and education. Quint has experience and bravado. Brody has a badge, a gun and an understandable desire to be somewhere else. Their disagreements become increasingly absurd as the shark demonstrates a complete lack of respect for any of these qualifications. It's a dynamic that will be familiar to anyone who's ever watched three men attempt to put up a tent. Nearly half a century after its release, Jaws continues to influence how we imagine the sea, coastal communities and the people who inhabit them. It also happens to contain some of the finest examples of unselfconscious outdoor clothing ever committed to film. There's a lesson in that somewhere. The best clothes aren't always designed to look good. Sometimes they look good because they were designed to do something else. And if you're planning to spend several days aboard a small fishing boat hunting a gigantic shark, we'd strongly recommend taking a decent jumper. Possibly two.

Friday Film - Wild (2014)

If you’ve ever headed out for a big walk with just a pack and a desire for a bit of soul-healing solitude, Wild will feel like a kindred spirit. Pub-chain heiress Reese Witherspoon (lol jk about the pubs) plays Cheryl Strayed, a woman who takes on the Pacific Crest Trail alone after life knocks her sideways, via loss. It's not a film about hiking despite an array of recognisable gear paraded throughout its 2 hour running time. It's more about someone using the outdoors and all of its extremes as an antidote to what has gone wrong in her life. Whether it's the self-inflicted breakdown of her relationship or the traumatic loss of a loved-one, the outdoors has a handy knack of presenting whichever treatment you need to help get over it. And in Wild there's a true story we can all relate to. The cinematography is stunning, and it really shows off why the Pacific Crest Trail is so beloved. You can almost feel the dust, the sun, the weight of the trail. But beyond the environment and the challenges nature can chuck in front of us, this film shows solitude in a positive light. Long passages feature very little in the way of dialogue yet still hold your attention.Like all memorable movies, Wild's strength lies in its ability to reflect real-life scenarios back to us in a way we understand, whether it be the literal scenarios ("Shit, I've brought too much gear") or the spiritual benefits to be gained from reconnecting with nature and using it as a tool to rebuild yourself. Give it a watch. You'll like it.

The 1977 Yosemite Dope Lake incident

Every now and then, you come across a story that feels more like a fairytale than real life. And along the long, winding trail of climbing mythology, a few tales stand out - not for superhuman feats of endurance, but for their sheer surrealism. Chief among them is the most infamous, far-fetched, and mind-blowing story of them all: the Yosemite airplane crash of 1977, better known as Dope Lake. Ask anyone about Dope Lake and you’ll get a different version of the story. But here are the facts: in the dead of winter, a Beechcraft twin-engine plane - crammed to the wings with Mexican red-hair marijuana - lost its bearings in a snowstorm and crashed into the frozen expanse of Yosemite’s Lower Merced Pass Lake. The wreck sat quietly beneath the ice, holding not only the bodies of the two pilots but an estimated 6,000 pounds of weed, shrink-wrapped and waiting. Word didn’t take long to travel. News of the crash filtered through the trees and into Camp 4 - the infamous stomping ground of Yosemite’s dirtbag climbers, who spent their days scaling granite walls and their nights dodging Park Rangers. Suddenly, a new kind of expedition presented itself. Allegedly tipped off by a radio call relayed by a climber’s Park Ranger girlfriend, a small group of dirtbags set out on the initial hike to the crash site. What they found was nothing short of a miracle: a plane embedded in a frozen lake, surrounded by bales of high-grade hash. They hauled back as much as they could carry and made their way - slowly and carefully - back to Camp 4. Their return sparked something close to a second Gold Rush. Word spread like wildfire, and soon climbers from across the region were making pilgrimages to Dope Lake - some reportedly bringing chainsaws to cut through the ice and free the bales. Supposedly, some dirtbags walked away from the affair with their pockets well-lined, and there are rumours - unsubstantiated, of course - that this is how Yvon Chouinard got Patagonia off the ground. Not saying we buy that… but it's a good story. The product itself, by all accounts, was absurdly potent. Joints were known to singe eyebrows on lighting, thanks to jet fuel soaking into the bales during the crash. Sadly, though, the high times didn’t last. Eventually, the DEA caught wind of the operation and shut it down. But by then, the legend had taken root. Dope Lake became climbing folklore - a hazy crossroads of wilderness, rebellion, and wild opportunity. Slogan tees appeared, emblazoned with: “I got mine at Lower Merced Pass.” The tale even helped inspire the 1993 musclebound mountain thriller Cliffhanger - well worth a watch, by the way. Stories like Dope Lake don’t come around often. And to us, they represent the raw, unpredictable magic of the outdoors. One day you’re climbing El Capitan; the next, you're hauling 30 kilos of jet-fuel-steeped weed out of a frozen lake.

Radio Hikerdelic #16

We're back with another list of ten songs we've enjoyed of late. We share them here in the belief you might like them, too.

Friday Film - The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

Based on a true story from WWII, this cinematic classic stars the iconic Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris. On paper, it’s a wartime sabotage thriller; on screen, it’s also two hours of rugged mountain missions, cable cars, and some of the finest cold-weather kit ever committed to film. It features a procession of chunky knits, and parkas and smocks made from natural cotton fibres, way before synthetics became a menswear mainstay.Aside from the aesthetic though, this is just a really good film. It’s based on the story of Norwegian resistance fighters who risked everything to stop Adolf's baddies from developing an atomic bomb. In 1942, Norway was occupied by the Germans, who used the isolated location of the Telemark mountains to pursue their plans. The local resistance had other ideas though, one of whom - Knut Haukelid - was American born. It was his memoirs published in 1947 and later revised in 1953 which formed the basis for this story of sabotage.As the biting cold continues to prevail here in the UK, you could do a lot worse than load up iplayer and give this a watch. Then, if you're as obsessed as us, do your best to dig out the 1948 film which this is technically a remake of. Produced by native Norwegians, Kampen om tungtvannet actually features some of the original heroes playing parts. There's never a bad time to remind ourselves of the sacrifices made by our ancestors either.

Hikerdelic Heroes - #002 - Gwen Moffat

Ever heard of Gwen Moffat? If yes, congrats. You already know about one of the most unique figures in British outdoor. If the answer us no, let us explain.Long before the nomadic #vanlife crowd ganged up and made us all envious of their freedom and flexibile lifestyle, Gwen Moffat kicked against convention.Born in 1924, Gwen's generation were expected to conform to gender stereotypes, staying at home and taking pride in keeping house. She chose to make her mark as a climber, writer, wanderer, and teacher. Her life was bohemian in the truest sense: sparse, mobile, deeply connected to nature and weather and guided by those wholesome chance encounters that seem to punctuate life in the outdoors.She often lived without a permanent home, carrying what she needed, trusting her own resilience and the generosity of the world. Long before the phrase “off-grid” was coined, Gwen was already living a version of radical simplicity rooted in self-reliance and faith that the world would reward her endeavour.While she achieved a lot, it was never about being a pioneer for performative reasons or vanity. It was just a case of enjoying the lifestyle so much she naturally became an authority at a time when the outdoors was dominated by men. Indeed, she became the first female British Mountain Guide in 1953 and was known to often climb barefoot.Gwen earned a living from her skills in the hills but also from writing. Her honesty and warmth, documenting her adventures without bravado led her to becoming an acclaimed author, publishing an autobiography in 1961, before embarking on a career writing crime fiction, loosely based on her own experiences.As if to serve as a lesson for a life well-lived, Gwen Moffat will celebrate her 102nd birthday this summer and for that reason we'll give her the final word, taken from BMC's Summit magazine."Longevity isn’t how many years you’ve lived, it’s how you’ve spent them. In youth the fun is enhanced by danger; in old age by serenity."

Hikerdelic Hike 001 - Todmorden 30/11/25

It's been a long time coming but last week we braved the testing conditions in the town of Todmorden, just over the Lancs/Yorks border. Our pursuit took us to see the Bridestones that inspired these t-shirts.A smashing time was had by all and we're already looking forward to the next one.

Hikerdelic x Allpress Espresso Manchester

We may be more associated with the gently energetic pursuit of hiking, but most people don't limit themselves to one hobby interest, so why should we?The last couple of days have seen us set up camp in the wonderful Allpress Espresso, located near New Century Hall on Dantzic Street. It's a 5 minute walk from our office and has provided a really nice change of backdrop to our own daily grind. Yes, that is a coffee pun. Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, as part of our link up with Allpress, this very morning saw us combine with our occasional collaborator Tom Reynolds for a social 5k run, at the slightly ungodly hour of 7.30am. For those of us who hung up their running shoes after half a mile, the prospect of that type of early morning energy is alien. But even viewed vicariously through their enthusiasm and appetite to start the day on the front foot, it was great. The fact they wore our hats and came in to our Archive Pop Up event and bought numerous tees and jackets was a bonus.Here's how it all went down anyway, through the lens of our own jogging enthusiast Andrew Lee. If you're at a loose end in tomorrow (29th Nov) we're still at Allpress and if you're lucky there will still be some bargains left. Perhaps more importantly though, the belated arrival of our collaborative tees has finally taken place. Utilising our existing Comfrey tees, this limited edition version bears both our name and that of Allpress and they're only available in store at the aforementioned Manchester location. So think on.

Friday Film - Nuts in May (1976)

If you’ve ever had a campsite argument over misplaced tent pegs or tried to cook a proper meal on a dodgy camping stove, Nuts in May will feel uncomfortably familiar. Though not strictly a film in the way others on this list are, it's not something we can help but recommend.Mike Leigh’s cult classic follows Keith and Candice-Marie, a painfully earnest couple trying to live out the perfect wholesome countryside retreat. Roger Sloman and Alison Steadman pull off proper memorable turns in the lead roles, to a backdrop of nature walks, educational lectures, and the occasional meltdown over firewood etiquette. It's so relatable for anyone who grew up in that era and ever went on a family camping holiday.Beyond that, Nuts in May because it captures the brilliant absurdity of British camping culture in that time. It’s not glamorous, but it’s gloriously real: muddy boots, wet socks and that universal tension between “getting away from it all” and realising you’ve brought all your problems (and your partner) with you. The thing about camping holidays is despite all of their benefits, they're rarely quite as relaxing and enjoyable as they promise. Whether it's the weather, practical problems or the realisation that you don't really like other humans, Nuts in May gets it bang on.The film is a slow burn, in the best sense. If you're used to watching big-budget Hollywood blockbusters, this will be an uncomfortable departure, but stick with it. It starts off gently, with birdwatching, fossil-hunting, and memorable folk songs by the fire. It's at this point you realise there's an underlying humour that'll stick with you long after you've finished watching. Keith spirals into comic chaos as fellow campers, motorbikes, and differing philosophies of life enter the scene. Style-wise, it’s a goldmine of British practical clothing from the 1970s. The knitwear! The anoraks! The rugby shirts! The sensible walking boots! The "plimsoles for clambering about the rocks". It’s seventies outdoor chic at its finest, before a plethora of performance fabrics turned our heads, before ultralight everything. Just hardy British layers, questionable yet cool hats, and a sense of pride in being at one with nature (even if it’s only Dorset). If you’ve ever admired vintage hiking gear or wax jackets that look better with age, this one’s for you.Like many of Mike Leigh's creations the strength of this film lies in the complex characters it tells the story of. We've all met Keith and Candice-Marie at some point. There are lots of films that feed into the DNA of Hikerdelic, from star-studded epics to quirky cult classics. This is defo the latter.

Inner Circle - Sam Matthew, Peaks and Pubs

Sam is one of those people we've watched from a safe distance for a while now. One of those people where you think "He seems sound, him". Once we'd plucked up enough courage to test out that assertion, we were relieved to find that is absolutely the case. Read on to find out more about the latest addition to our Inner Circle...Thanks for this, Sam. Where do we start? How about where you're from and what you get up to most days?I'm Sam, I'm 31, and I'm from Manchester. Lived all over the gaff over the years. from Burnage, to Davyhulme, Stretford, to Chorlton. Currently living in Tyldesley (which no one has ever heard of!). It's the home of bangin' pies, cheap pints, shit takeaways, and we have the guided busway. So my house is worth 10k more than it was a few years ago, Get in.As for what I get up to, well you'll either find me up a mountain, or down the pub, so the account name pretty much does what it says on the tin. I live for the outdoors, and earning my vices. If I'm not hiking, or running on the trails, or enjoying a cold one, then chances are you'll find me taking pictures of sandwiches. I run the social channels for Manchester's very own Bada Bing. Best butties in town, and the perfect carb load for outdoors adventures. Your story is a pretty familiar one. Lockdown boredom, bit of self-reflection, the great outdoors etc. But each tale is unique, so tell us how you discovered you really, really like hiking?Yep, the age old tale. We're so predictable aren't we!? I'm very much an all-or-nothing person, and when I'm into something it becomes my entire personality. For years, that was drinking culture, in all forms; necking pints, away days, my entire weekends revolving around chasing the next pub. But in my mid 20s I wanted to start doing more with not only my weekends, but my time, and my whole life. I swapped a few hungover weekends for weekends outdoors. What started as a steady stumble around a reservoir slowly became bigger mountains, and bigger challenges. I couldn't get enough of how it made me feel- before, during, after. Not something you get from the weekend piss ups. Mine and my Mrs' first big multi day hiking trip was the NC500, and that changed my outlook on everything. And from then onwards, I've just constantly wanted to see what we have right here on our doorstep. And then eventually led me to exploring European landscapes, and beyond. How much of a part does geography play in what you get up to? We're so close to the Peak and Lake District plus North Wales, it's almost rude not to indulge in the isn't it?Oh, it play a huge role! I always ellude to the fact that the North of England is the perfect hub for the outdoors. I can get to the Peaks and the Yorkshire Dales in under an hour, the Lakes in little over and hour, and Snowdonia in 90 minutes or so. It's not lost on me how lucky I am to be from this part of the country. I've met so many people from different outdoors communities, and most tend to have to travel a lot more than I do. It played a massive part in how I managed to do this along side my full time job for the first year. I was absolutely pumping out content, and brands couldn't believe I had a 9-5. Managed to go full time with content creation this year, and it's been the best year of my life. You seem to be good at social media, what's the secret?Years of practice, trial and error. There isn't a magic formula (unfortunately). Although I could definitely have told you a trick or two to grow your accounts if you asked me a year ago. Nowadays the algorithm is mental, so you just gotta post and see what sticks. You have to ignore posts that flop, move on and post the next thing. I actually had an online vintage clothing business for 7 years, where I did all things socials on top of all the usual day to day stuff. We actually managed to grow to around 72k on IG on there to, so i've definitely got a good lump of experience behind me. The main thing I would say though, is that imposing your personality within your socials definitely helps. Everyone tries to follow trends, but nobody can be you. And you tend to build an audience when your consumer relates with you as a person, before your brand. Running, hiking and drinking. What else do you get up to? Are you a secret philatelist or one of those eccentric people who dresses up as a soft toy? Can neither confirm or deny either of those. But those three pretty much take up 90% of my time. I'm also a huge Manchester United fan, so I watch my fairshare of football. Nowhere near as much as I used to, but I don't think that's ever something that leaves you. As mentioned, I also run Bada Bing's socials, so I'm quite the sandwich enthusiast too. I also love clothes. I worked in fashion for about 12 years, and ran my own vintage clothing company. You'll always find me hunting for bargains in the Lake District charity shops, and I love a car boot! Tell us about your recent run around Old Trafford. How did that come about?When I was closing in on 70k followers on Instagram, I remember thinking 'this is mad, I could almost fill Old Trafford'. Then the idea came to me that I could run 74.31km to celebrate hitting the milestone of being able to fill the UK's biggest club stadium with my followers, with the capacity being 74,310. I've ran a few ultras this year, and I ran 80km not too long ago so I knew I had it in the legs. I didn't want the challenge to be a complete vanity fest, so I got in touch with the Manchester United Foundation to see if they'd like to get behind it and I could raise some money for a good cause along the way. The backed it the whole way, and even gave me a shirt to run in on the day. I even featured on the club's official account a couple times. Didn't know that was happening, couldn't believe it. Stuff of dreams, at the theatre of dreams. I couldn't find any records online for longest distance ran around the outside a football stadium so I registered it with GWR. Only cost £6.50 and I should find out soon whether it is or not. If I get that, then I think my life will have officially peaked. You've been regularly spotted wearing our Petroglyph beanie of late. Not bad is it?I've not took it off for a few weeks, I can't lie. Should probably wash it soon, mind.. It's a banger. I don't often suit hats and the fit on this is perfect for me, so it's become a staple. Gave it it's debut on a recent wild camp, and it was perfect to keep my head warm as it's lined. I've also got the Mendelian jeans, and they're class too.What's next for you? More peaks and pubs? Anything else beginning with a 'p' you might add to it in 2026?More outdoors challenges for me. I've ticked off a fair few mad feats this year, and I don't intend on slowing down. I want to complete the Cairngorms 4000s, I want to hike in a few more countries. And I also want to run my first 100km race, and potentially my first 100 miler if my legs are still working. I'd love to get out to UTMB next year, and I have something cooking in the background that might just make that dream a reality, so we'll see. Don't think my brain can handle any more personality extensions, so think it'll just remain peaks and pubs for now!