I had a surprise delivery last week. A little while ago Berghaus asked me if I would review one of their new season jackets and then I didn’t hear from them for a little while so I forgot all about it. When a parcel in a black bin bag came through the letterbox I assumed that the boys and been buying from Ebay again until I saw it was addressed to me and inside was a bright Berghaus Paclite III jacket. I guess Berghaus are far too practical to worry about all that fancy packaging nonsense! You would expect that living in the Lakes, I’d have a lot of these but in fact I don’t. It isn’t easy to find sensible clothing that still looks ok so I gave up trying a long time ago and tend to mutter and grumble when it rains – which it does – a lot!

As you know, we live less than a mile from the coast but the golden sandy beaches that you sometimes see in my shots are further on. Closest to us are the salt marshes. They aren’t beautiful but they are dramatic, they’re also dangerous with quicksands and tides that rush in behind you if you don’t watch carefully.

When we were city dwellers, our weekends were spent in galleries and museums, now if we’re at a loose end, we go boghopping (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it).  The idea is that you start with the little gullies and progress to the bigger ones until someone falls in and gets wet and muddy. I usually manage to remain clean and dry but as you can see from the sequence below, I haven’t tried it while looking into a camera before.

Before the gully…

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….and after. Mr MC was too busy helping me to keep the jacket clean and pulling me out to take a photo of my soaking but as you can see my jeans are now very wet and muddy – it’s amazing how that ‘wellies full of water feeling’ takes you straight back to being 5 years old.

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Needless to say the boys found it hilarious.

women's Berghaus Paclite III

More successful second time round…

women's Berghaus Paclite III

Gary particularly enjoys himself…

women's Berghaus Paclite III

…and here’s the true pro – the boy who has been boghopping since he could walk. He’s what they call a ‘sandgrownun’ round here – which means he’s grown up on the edge of the bay.

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Spectacular lakes hills across the water…

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It’s amazing how doing something silly blows the cobwebs away.

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As you can see the jacket has a great cut, there’s a hood folded into the neck.

women's Berghaus Paclite III

It isn’t warm because they’ve kept it light but it’s windproof. I haven’t tried it in the rain but it has a GORE-TEX membrane for ‘extreme wet weather’ which apparently means it keeps you dry in both vertical and horizontal wind-driven rain – we get a  lot of that round here. Because it has been ‘articulated’ it moves really well with your body – for proper walkers that probably enables you to scramble up craggy hillsides easily – it certainly moves nicely for boghopping.

women's Berghaus Paclite III

Luckily we know the farmer who owns the café very well because we always smell like wet dogs when we’ve finished.

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A sweet little day old lamb – sadly this being the salt marshes he won’t be long for this world. Salt marsh lamb is a particular regional delicacy.

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I wasn’t sure about the colour combination when I first saw it but as we were cutting through the Churchyard on the way home and saw the carpet of crocuses I realised it was the perfect choice for Spring…

women's Berghaus Paclite III

…. and far more appropriate than the coats I usually wear – here’s a picture from half term – I told you we go boghopping a lot!

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So I’m actually rather taken with my practical new jacket. The very best thing about it is that all that product technology folds up even smaller than an old fashioned cagoule (I photographed it next to Rosie for scale). This of course means you could keep it in your bag ‘just in case’ – perfect for dog walking and school runs or even just the British Summer when you always seem to get caught out.

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So thank you to outdoor clothing brand Berghaus for sending it to me – I was under no obligation to feature it and I wouldn’t have recommended it if I hadn’t tried it and liked it first. Keep in touch.