Squeaky clean

Children wearing smart school shoes are no more likely to be trustworthy than children wearing wellington boots or trainers. Shoes don’t reflect character after all, any more than any other clothing. A child in a pair of plimsolls is just as likely to be polite as one with Black lace up shoes.

Often the children with the smartest, nicest appearance are the ones who are the least friendly, least helpful and most unkind to others. They are too wrapped up in their own image to be able to interact with others without thinking about how it will make them look to their friends. Of course it is not wrong to care for ones appearance and keep smart but there is more to life than shiny shoes and ironed trousers.

Lord Baden Powell would say that appearance is important, I know but I think he would agree that character and morals come before shoe polish. If I need to ask a child for help, I am not going to be looking at their shoes to help me decide which one to choose.

I think children who wear a school uniform should have to wear an appropriate pair of shoes to school. The school should advise what is acceptable and then parents and children should choose a pair of school shoes to conform to the rules.

There are lots of shoe shops where good quality, practical school shoes can be bought. It is not necessary for every child to wear exactly the same type or style of shoe. School shoes can be an expensive purchase for children and because children’s feet grow fast shoes may need to be replaced through the year. Parents should have the freedom to decide what shoes their children wear, and where these are purchased.

Most schools advise that children should wear black or brown shoes; there are very few schools that would request particular colours or styles. School shoes should be practical but complementary to the uniform; differing styles of shoes would not detract from the uniformity or standards of the school.

Go for Quality Every Time

Outdoor clothing seems to be big business, these days. Every market in the UK has at least one stall dedicated to ‘outdoor’ gear, generally in khaki camouflage, aimed at all those paramilitary insurance salesmen who spend their weekends pretending they’ve skinned rabbits on the Brecon Beacons.

My advice? Don’t spend your hard earned cash on a whole range of cheap items that don’t do the job. Instead, take yourself off to a decent, specialist outdoor clothing shop where you can be guaranteed plenty of good advice from salespeople who know what they’re talking about.

Spend a bit of time browsing the range of clothing on offer – and, more importantly, try the clothes on. Don’t always head for the trendiest looking clothes, either – you’re going for practicality here, after all.

Don’t neglect comfort, either. That slightly too-tight waistband might prove a slight niggle at the time of purchase, but it’ll be a major pain when you’re half way up a mountain and it’s boiling hot.

To the horror of clothes shop owners, my mother always has a good tug at the seams of clothes to check the stitching. It embarrassed the life out of me as a child, but it’s a good lesson! Check the construction of the clothing before you buy. The last thing you need is a gaping seam in your clothing when the icy wind is howling across the plain!

Check that fastenings, such as buttons, are covered by an extra piece of fabric [known as a 'placket'] to make your garment more durable, wind and water proof.

Footwear is probably the one area where skimping on expense really will cost you dear. Go for the best quality that you can afford – cutting back on the cost of footwear is a false saving, and you could end up paying for it in the form of a twisted ankle, at the very least. You need solid, quality Brasher shoes that won’t slip or slide, and cushion and protect your feet in the right way.

Fine Jewellery Heirlooms

When my granddad retired from Uniroyal, he was presented with a neat rectangular leather case with a small push button to the front. Inside was delicately lined in silk and underneath the little paper receipt from an Edinburgh Princess Street jeweller was his retirement gift.

Some people receive a carriage clock when they retire, but in my grandfather’s case it was a beautiful Tudor Rolex watch encased in a hand finished Dennison case. The back was inscribed with a personal message for his loyal service of 40 years.  The face was oyster coloured adorned with stunning roman numerals and gold hands that, rather than tick, swept effortlessly around its face.

(Photo by: BudaKedrova)

It was wound manually by a little gold Rolex crown winder, that just felt perfect between your fingers and although you would have to listen very closely, the ticking was seemed to be more precise and half the beat of any other that I have ever heard. The sweeping ticks just seemed to blend into one.

The dark brown leather crocodile strap complimented the gold Rolex buckle and its face wafer thin against the wrist, nestling warmly into the fold of your hand.

Only brought out at special occasions, his Rolex lay unattended in a box for the majority of the year. It was never serviced as fine watches should, but simply brought out, wound and worn, for the good part of another thirty years until grandfather passed away. It never failed, never let him down and his time keeping was always precise and punctual, he was not a man that could ever be late.

I dint know him particularly well, which is something that I regret deeply, however he left my own father nothing other than his watch as they shared the same first name. In fairness to both of them he did have another elder son and three daughters to consider in his will, but his watch came to my dad.

He wore it once, but dad’s fat wrists compared to my granddads skinny ones, he could hardly get the pin in the last hole of the leather strap.

My dad, complete opposites from my granddad believed that watches or indeed any jewellery for that matter should be worn and enjoyed and not hidden away from the sunlight.

So after a week or so, scared to lose it, scared to break it, he gave it to me, still in its original red leather case. Dad is more at home with hammers than he is with delicate items.

It wasn’t a special occasion, a birthday or a Christmas; it was just a spontaneous passing between father and son.

I have owned many watches over the years, sun and moon faced dials, digital watches, diver’s watches and watches that glow in the dark.  But, realistically this will be the only watch that I will ever really own, care for, wear with pride, be able to talk about passionately and someday bestow it on someone that will hopefully treat it with the same care and respect.

It has been my daily watch during some periods of my life and other times it sits waiting in its case due to various fads and hobbies requiring something more robust.

I do concede that  I have had it cleaned, serviced and have gone through a few straps over the years, and sometimes its timekeeping can lose a minute or so over the course of a day, but these are all minor details that I can live with.

Fine jewellery will last a lifetime and often the lifetime of others.