On 25 May, 20:38, Robert wrote:
In message , Bob Hobden
writesEverywhere I look I come across the same Wellington Boots ( Town & Country
etc) sold at Garden Centres, marketed at gardeners, that are useless for
digging as they haven't got a steel mid-sole and digging pad and will fail
if they are used for digging. Some fail very dramatically and painfully as I
know!
However after talking to the chap on the Hunter stand at Chelsea it appears
they make a suitable boot...
http://www.wellie-boots.com/ukmofcar...y-knee-dp.html
anyone used them? Are they any good?
Anyone found a real gardening Wellington boot of another make?

I do my best to avoid digging but I can vouch for Hunter boots. I have
a pair of 3/4 Argyle farming boots which have three great advantages -
they really are comfortable when worn for extended periods, they cope
well with rough terrain and they are relatively easy to take off. I
bought them about 5 years ago and they are high on my list of 'best ever
buys' .
They are available at branches of Mole Valley and some tack shops.
--
Robert

In over 50 years of digging I have NEVER had a pair of wellies damaged
by a spade
I was always told when I was young to use the ball of my foot on the
spade and in those days we were on heavy clay, when I started on the
parks in Hastings we hand dug all the beds and borders every winter,
and when I moved over to market gardening we used to hand dig all the
greenhouse plots during the winter, a total of over half an acre for 2
of us.
Some old gardeners used to put a bit of split hose pipe over the top
of the blade.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries.