The Big City

When I volunteered to go on a trip for work to cover the end of the war in Yugoslavia back in 1995 my employers sent me on a very comprehensive Battlefield First-Aid course. A BBC journalist, John Schofield, had just been shot and killed in Croatia and they didn’t want anything like that to happen to me. I came back from the course feeling considerably less gung-ho and confident than I had before it, which was probably a good thing.

One of the many useful things I learned on the course was the importance of wearing a hat when you’re working in the sun. As I gathered up and learned how to use the new Inmarsat satellite equipment that I was going to take with me I spent my lunch-times shopping for appropriate clothes for the trip. In the YHA shop in Covent Garden they sold Tilley hats. Extremely well-made and solid feeling, they reminded me a bit of the hat that the scout is wearing on the cover of the early editions of Scouting For Boys. They are made in Canada, they have British brass ventilation grommets and they float. I also liked the sound of their guarantee - “If your Tilley hat ever wears out… we’ll replace it for free.” It didn’t feel like it would wear out but a guarantee like that is very encouraging and the hat made me feel somehow safer, so I bought one.

In the years following that trip to Yugoslavia I took my Tilley hat all over the world, on work trips as well as on all my summer holidays. Being rather distinctive it helped prevent me from getting separated from colleagues in chaotic situations and the fact that you could clip both sides of the brim to the crown with brass poppers made it ideal for wearing while standing in the hot sun with headphones on. It was one of my most essential accessories and I started to have a superstitious faith in it.

While making a programme about the earthquake in Gujerat it got quite badly stained with a mixture of sweat and the reddish dust from the fallen buildings. I never managed to wash those stains out and after a few more hot washes and a few more years of neglect the fabric on the crown of the hat finally gave way. I mended it but that made it too small for me and it would leave a red line across my forehead, making me look lobotomised. I realised that I would have to give it up and get a new hat.

Then I remembered the guarantee. I wasn’t sure that Tilley would be prepared to replace my hat; I hadn’t looked after it very well. I posted it off with a note of explanation and a few days later a box arrived containing a brand new one and a lovely note saying “Hope your new hat is as good a companion as your old one”! They even sent back my old hat since I was so fond of it. I am delighted. It needs a bit of wearing in, of course, but I already prefer it to the old one; it is a more gentle colour and it is such a good fit.

I haven’t tried any of the other travel clothing Tilley sell but I cannot recommend their hats too strongly and their customer service is clearly great. If you need a hat for the summer, buy a Tilley. You won’t regret it.

Tilley Endurables - The Finest Hats and Travel Clothing in the World