Casketeers, Cheshire.

What better way to end the festivities, than a nice long Bank Holiday stroll in the cold and some proper beer? sounds nice doesn't it? well it was, though it all went a bit Planes, Trains and Automobiles, feeling a little stranded and breaking every rule in the Highway Code along the way, when you experience dark winding country lanes, with no pavements, and large heavy noisy vehicles coming at you both ways it seems a bit of a recipe for disaster. All that went through my head on this dark perilous path was that we couldn't have been the first, and we wouldn't be the last to walk it, it was, in truth a silly place to walk, especially as the sun set, but it was the only way, not exactly Captain Oates, but scary none the less. A sheep growled at us as we passed his field, 'I'm on your side fella', I said, but he just clattered at us, unapproving.
Excuse the tiltshifting on some of these photos, I've got a new camera and I'll be damned if I don't dick around with it.

Point and shoot, plastic boots.

Due to it's influx of WAGs, Prestbury council have now installed roadside mirrors so they can check their face-aches whilst sitting at the lights. Pph.

So, anyway, Prestbury was the first destination, a village, or ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Prestbury is well known for being one of the wealthiest areas in the country, a magnet for the super rich, though a village allegedly on it's arse thanks to it's multi millionaire famous footballing residents and their talentless, tasteless wives trundling off to the Trafford Centre in their Chelsea tractors and not supporting local businesses. Aside from those c*nts, Prestbury is a pleasant setting, pompous perhaps, but not too uninviting. An olde worldly place sandwiched between Macclesfield and Wilmslow, perched atop of the River Bollin.

Prestbury's Black Boy pub, aka The Gary Coleman arms, where casual racism didn't go out of fashion with Eddie Booth and flared trousers. Good pint of the black stuff, mind.

The plan was to walk over to the nearby small milltown of Bollington, aka The Happy Valley, famous for it's landmark White Nancy which sits proudly on the summit of Kerridge hill overlooking greater Manchester in the distance. Bollington I like, it's a bit out in the sticks, maybe even a bit backward, who knows? but it's quaint, it's twinned with my Grandmothers home land, I'd live there. Though not ideal if you're just on your feet, no stations but a canal, it's popular with walkers and riders and apparently once was in the record books for having more pubs per square mile, they're good at that, with the pub we were looking for brewing in house.

Find me a more inviting sight than this, during the gloom of a freezing cold early January and I'll eat one of my hats. Bollington's bank holiday bus services are as to be expected but bus it we did, I was fucked if I was making that country lane jaunt once again, now it was really dark, we were given an hour and half wait whilst ordering a taxi, perhaps they just had the one, like in the olden days, one milkman, one postie with a cat, one policeman (Terry Waite snr) no bad thing I guess. Of all the random 'slebs you could spot in a place like this, we saw a woman from Australian soap Home and Away, 'Irene Roberts', evesdropping her phone conversation on the way out she thought she was in Bollingworth in Chester, Chester? I bet she was freezing cold. I know I was. We finished off in nearby Macclesfield in a pale ale haze by the fire.

WYWT.

Winter Hattage.

You'd be hard pushed to find me out and about without some kind of lid on this time of the year, and as Britain currently lies under a thick sheet of sleet it makes perfect sense. Did you know exposure to extreme chilly weather can lead to serious illness? did you also know that most of our body heat is lost through the head? well there you have it, as good an excuse as any to spunk fifty odd quid on this years smartest hat.
Here's a look at a mixed bag of some of this years best winter hats, from the luxurious to the budget, the hand crafted to the hard to find :-

Heritage Research Watch cap in Oatmeal and Navy Marl with lots of lovely speckly bits from superb British brand Heritage Research - Hand loomed in Scotland from local wool, this makes me feel a bit like Captain Oates at Terra Nova. £50 Oi Polloi.

Saint James bonnet de quart - I'm not quite sure what that actually means but it sounds good anyway. Made from tightly woven 'windproof' wool, available in black and red stripes or plain red if you want to look a bit like Steve Zissou, Jacques Cousteau or Marvin Gaye. £25 available from Saint James.


Christys, two looks for the price of one here from original hat pioneers Christys' a bucket hat in reversible cotton and moleskin, coming in a dark olive on one side and a dapper country check on t'other. £19 available from Not Addicted.

Benetton I picked this up from the store near Oxford Circus, they had a selection of colours, navy, green, black, grey and red if I remember rightly, a nice ribbed wool hat for a very reasonable price. £12 from Benetton.

Penfield Agawan hat, classic trapper hat from Penfield, a superb tweed checked hat with fold down ear protection in corduroy, with adjustable chin strap - cord and tweed, like rice and peas, sea and sand, they are meant to be together. £39 available from Hanon Shop.

Blackbird's Bird boy hat, a tightly ribbed cap as they say over the water, a replica of the one worn by the real Bird Boy of Ballard who's not actually real, with a removable Bird Boy pin badge and poem ona satin ribbon, suave. $24 available from Blackbird.

The Casual Connoisseur's the Weir bobble hat takes it's name from Scottish broadcaster/bobble hat endorser Tom Weir, this years limited edition hat sold out within 24 hours this year, as did the next version, but there's several new colours out again post Christmas. £20 available from The Casual Connoisseur.


Barbour Tyne tweed bobble hat, made from Shetland wool, old reliable Barbour have done a sterling job with this well toasty heavyweight ribbed hat with a massive big bobble, £29 available from Shed Menswear.

Norse Projects 100% wool beanie with woven label from Copenhagen's finest cool viking folk, they've done loads of these in different plain colours, non branded ones and contrasting striped ones, mega £35 available from Norse Store.

Artesania in Alpaca wool and lined in fleece, hand made in Bolivia using the cottage industry and nothing but all natural fibres. I bought this from a woman in Peterborough who brought it back from a whole foods store in New York city. This probably the most unobtainable hat here, found on eBay, but they are nice.

For more on this buy issue ten of Proper Magazine.

Recent Pick-ups...

Some more shit I don't really need I picked up over the last couple of months. Starting with the classic winter wardrobe staple, old man chic, the Marks and Sparks lambswool crewneck in rust, taking full advantage of their one day spectacular, a tenner.
Also picked up a dark plum coloured Benetton crewneck from their store in Oxford Circus.

Continuing the old man chic streak, a classic Daks wool scarf, I've never seen one as fruity as this, lots of nice colour, kept me snug as a bug in a rug during a recent jaunt to a cold capital city.

And an Artesania handmade hat, which came with hand knitted gloves too.

Norse Projects classic blazer in Universal blue, a great all year rounder.

I picked up a great herringbone tweed vest/waistcoat from Uni Qlo and added my own crushed minstrel buttons, I only got this so I could spill more ale down it than my friends could actually drink and then mock them for it. Pph.


Wrangler Records shirt, a rather nice chambray shirt with extra cool - elbow patches, really nice shirt which was as fairly priced as they come.

Woolrich heavy chamois button down shirt with a fishing fly throughout, what? OK, I know, I can't tell if it's the coolest or gayest thing I've ever bought either.

An old school Boneville thick quarter zip, with a nice high collar, made in Italy, warm as fuck.

Dickies flannel lined work pants, I think these are great, even if might look a bit like a caretaker.

Edwin Ed-47 Rainbow Selvedge, couldn't say no at around 60% off.
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Yet more strides from Howies, a brand I first saw in Oi Polloi several years back when I bought a cool jacket with a million pockets on it , a real eco brand who don't muck about, a little pricey really, but luckily I spotted a sale store on my travels in East London and nabbed two pairs of army green kecks for twenty bob each, with a retail of a ton twenty!

I also grabbed their Doh Boy! vinyl figure, basically a bit of a swipe at how bread is produced these days or summat heavy like that, I've always just wanted the little fatty stood on a shelf, rude not too at forty quid off. Look at his big fat, flat freckly head.

Clarks Weaver in camel, I've had bare Wallabees over the years, always go back to them, and why not eh? cooler than Steve McQueen's pet pooch.

A printed newsletter from fellow blogsters Offhand, who even did an interview with a very good pal of mine, Charlie D!

I grabbed these cool cards from Oi Polloi by mega illustrator Ben Lamb, he did Stevie Mc, Jack Nicholson and Hunter S, I don't know what to do with the others yet.

Last but certainly not least, three massive old Peanuts button badges, already had the 'Hike It' one inspired by this, now I've got two, I feel I'm winning in my personal quest to make geeky buttons acceptable once more, it's not hard with these. These are over fifty years old. A meeting with Ian P of The Garbstore made me appreciate Snoopy, Charlie, Woodstock and co for their ever-lasting charm. Aceness.