Woolly thinking

2:28pm Thursday 18th January 2007

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Every walker knows that even a short ramble can feel like a route march if you find yourself with a pair of badly fitting boots. Keen walkers Julia Sargent, 61, and Maureen Langston, 59, - whom generations of Oxfordshire children will remember as their primary school teachers - reckon that they have come up with an idea to help anyone, anywhere, who ever finds themselves saying: "my feet are killing me."

The pair say their product is ideal not only for walkers and sportspeople, but also anyone who has to spend time on their feet.

"My obsession with walkers' feet has become a new business."

Maureen Langston

Ms Langston, who, until 2000, worked at Wootton Primary School at Boars Hill, Oxford, explained: "I had made a resolution to keep fit, so when my sister Lynne from Canada asked me to join a group walking the West Highland Way, I was delighted.

"But soon members of the party began suffering from blisters. I found that the raw wool I found lying around in the landscape made a perfect padding. Everyone said it worked well. So a business idea started working in my head from the rest of the expedition."

Ms Sargent will be familiar to many in Oxfordshire as a supply teacher. She also promotes Forest Schools, a scheme in which classes of children walk into the woods and learn their lessons in a clearing.

She added: "Curiously enough, at the same time as Maureen was walking the West Highland Way, I was walking in Sutherland and my feet were suffering. I also picked up a piece of wool and and put it in my boots. A farmer friend has since told me that her grandmother did the same years ago."

Later the pair teamed up - and decided to develop their idea by consulting a chemist, a graphic designer, and packaging experts.

Their product, called Hapihike, is made from wool of Oxfordshire sheep, which moulds itself to the shape of the feet of the wearer, preventing blisters. The idea is simple. Just pack clean, loose wool into walking boots to stop them rubbing and causing blisters. It retails at £4.99 for a 10gm pack.

Ms Langston, who now lives in Wales, said: "We have added peppermint oil to the felt on the advice of a chemist. It has antibacterial properties and helps Hapihike to shape and cushion the foot. It helps put a spring back in your step."

She said: "Really there is nothing like it on the market. The trouble with ordinary plasters is that they can all too easily rub off."

Ms Langston and Ms Sargent have so far spent about £3,000 in bringing the product to market themselves, having decided early on not to borrow any money. They are now going through the process of registering the trademark.

The pair found all the professional help they needed to turn the idea into a useful product by searching the Internet.

Now Hapihike is beginning to appear in specialist outdoor shops, although sadly not yet in Oxfordshire.

Ms Langston, 59, said: "We have had many good friends testing it over the past year and lots have told us that it is good for people trailing round shopping - and, of course, for people on the other side of the counter too."

The pair describe sales since the launch of Hapihike last August as "good". Now the product is receiving publicity in specialist publications and is also catching on with charities organising walks.

Ms Langston said: "The point is that prevention is better than cure, but Hapihike does both."

She added: "I was recently walking on the Ridgeway and came across some youths whose feet were really hurting. I was able to help them on their way with Hapihike!"

Ms Langston said: "My obsession with walkers' feet has become a new business. Necessity is the mother of invention. And it is very exciting to see Hapihike packaged and up for sale."

Contact: Hapihike 01865 407922, www.hapihike.co.uk