Brighter hiking

ADISTINGUISHED Royal Academician has been complaining of the costume of hikers of both sexes: not of its quantity, which is often scanty enough, but of its quality. ‘Why,’ he asks, ‘do they make themselves so ugly in potato colour and khaki while merely taking a walk?’ If his accusation is justified, it is a little singular that it should be so, because other people who go for a walk are not afraid of bright colours.

‘Look, for instance, at the male golfer. He, when he gave up his red coat, was for a while drab enough, but today he is decked out in jumpers of many hues and white shoes, and resembles a bird of paradise. It may be that the hiker’s motto is ‘Flumina amen silvasque inglorius’ and he does not want to be a purple patch against the green. Or again, he may deem grey and khaki a better camouflage against the farmer’s eye when he is taking an illicit short cut across the field.

‘Grey flannels are almost a national uniform, but there is much to be said for a resplendent pullover.’ (Country Notes, October 13, 1934)

War, which could not have failed to disrupt our present civilisation, has been averted. Has the peace been assured? Or is war only postponed? (Country Notes, October 8, 1938, following Neville Chamberlain’s ‘Peace in Our Time’ speech)

‘It is with deep regret that we record here the death of Mr. Edward Hudson, the founder of the paper who has been at its head ever since its inception. COUNTRY LIFE may be said to have been his life’s work, and all his enthusiasm and unremitting care were devoted to it… It was [his] intense satisfaction to realise that he had built on sure foundations and that his creation would long outlast its builder.’ (Country Notes, September 26, 1936)