Fell Boot Fights Erosion...
Buy a pair of Hawshead Fell Boots and three quid is donated to the Fix The Fell Project which aims to repair and preserve paths and walls in the Lake District.
Posted: 31 January 2005
by Jon
Given that our feet are largely responsible for the erosion of
footpaths, we rather like the idea behind the Hawkshead Fell Boot -
they may not cause any less erosion than other boots, but for every
pair sold, £3.00 is contributed to footpath restoration project
Fix The Fells.
 It works like this - for every pair of the boots which are sold,
Hawkshead donates £1.00 towards the repair of Lakeland paths.
And for every £1.00 donated by Hawkshead, the Heritage Lottery
Fund contributes an extra £2.00 to the project making a total of
£3.00 per pair of boots. Apparently Hawkshead has quietly been
making a donation on sales of their boots since 1994 and, since then,
have raised £266,000. Good to see lottery cash doing some good for the outdoors too.
Hawklshead says that 12 million people walk in the Lake District
every year and some 145 paths are now seriously eroded and in need of
repair. The Fix the Fells Upland Path Landscape Restoration Project
has 16 full-time staff including 11 dry-stone-wallers, who work to
repair walls and fences lay hedges, plant trees and build wire
cloches (a new technique to aid re-vegetation on grassy slopes).
You can find out more and even make a donation at the Fix
The Fells web site.
Giving The Boot To Good Causes...
The boot itself is probably a little below most OMers' radar, but
it's a bargain £28 and is aimed, says Hawkshead, to compete with
much more expensive rivals. The spec' includes a padded bellows
tongue to keep the water out in comfort, speed and ski hook fastening
for quick and easy access, heel protector and a 100% rubber sole.
No-one's pretending that it's top-end kit, but we reckon the
donation idea is a winner and it'd be great to see other UK outdoors
companies getting involved with similar projects.
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