Hills are good for you.
How we came to be.
BACK IN MAY 2023, ON A CANOE AND BOTHY EXPEDITION THROUGH LOCH ETIVE ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND, WE HAD LOTS OF TIME TO TALK.
RETURNING FROM THE ALPS AND CANADA AFTER A GOOD HANDFUL OF WINTER SEASONS, A COUPLE OF OLD FRIENDS DESCRIBED THE SHIFT THEY HAD NOTICED IN THE UK’S OUTDOOR SCENE. IT SEEMED THAT IN THE TIME THEY’D BEEN AWAY, THERE HAD BEEN A SURGE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING SOLACE AND ADVENTURE IN OUR RIVERS, SEAS, MOUNTAINS, AND HILLS - AND IT WAS BECOMING MORE AND MORE COLLECTIVE. BEING TOO CLOSE TO THE FOREST TO SEE THE TREES, THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME WE REALLY NOTICED THAT A SERIOUS MOVEMENT WAS EMERGING.
LEYLINES EXISTS TO CHAMPION THE RISE OF THIS GOOD CLEAN FUN, STAY PATIENT AND WE’LL TELL YOU HOW.
THE BOTHY TRIP CONFIRMED WHAT I KNEW DEEP DOWN, THAT I NEEDED TO MAKE THE MOVE FROM LONDON BACK TO EDINBURGH AND PADDLING BACK FROM THE BOTHY, I BEGAN THINKING ABOUT THE KIT I NEEDED FOR MY NEW LIFE UP HERE. AND THINKING OUT LOUD, I ASKED ONE FRIEND WITH US KNOWN AS ‘MR GEAR’ WHERE I COULD GO TO GET THIS KIND OF EQUIPMENT SECOND-HAND. “IT’S A BIT OF A MISSION, YOU JUST NEED TO START SAVING SOME SEARCHES ON FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE AND GUMTREE AND HOPE FOR THE BEST”.
HOW ODD I THOUGHT, THAT THIS IS SUCH A BIG MOVEMENT BUT THERE’S STILL NOT ONE PLACE TO BUY SECOND-HAND GEAR ONLINE, AND VIRTUALLY NOWHERE IN PERSON. IT WAS A THOUGHT THAT STAYED WITH ME ON THE SIX-HOUR DRIVE THAT FOLLOWED. AND THE SAME THOUGHT THAT HAS LED YOU AND ME BOTH HERE.