LIGHTHOUSE LOVE // stylish outdoor rainwear

I grew up in one of the most stunning places in the world, but never really appreciated what was right on my doorstep until I moved half a world away. But while New Zealand definitely wins on the beach front (what’s with all the pebbles here, instead of sand?) there’s no denying the UK has some beautiful woodlands.

We’re lucky enough to live just minutes from a number of Woodland Trust properties and nature reserves, many of which contain ancient woods.

In case you’re note sure of the definition, ancient woods are those which have existed – relatively undisturbed – since around the 1600’s. Four hundred years! Let’s just put that into perspective for a moment… that’s about half a century before the first European explorer – Abel Tasman – discovered a little old country called New Zealand. It’s around the time the Plague was killing tens of thousands of Englishmen and women, and – later that century – the capital city was decimated by the Great Fire of London.

Walk through these woods today and you pretty much have the same view as the highwaymen who used to hide behind the beech trees, waiting to ambush slow carriages passing through the area. How cool is that? 

The other day – after a rather housebound half-term holiday – we decided to blow off the cobwebs with a walk in one of our local woods. We’d been sent some jackets from outdoor lifestyle brand, LIGHTHOUSE (read more about my glamorous introduction to the company) so it was the perfect chance to try them out too.

Big Sis isn’t one for frills and flounces, so she chose the light-blue SKIPPER rain jacket, with orange trim and sailboat pattern you can see in the photo above.

Lil Sis, however, is all about the pretty, which is why I knew she’d love this Lighthouse cobalt blue CARRIE jacket with brightly coloured dots, which she promptly teamed with a perfect-for-a-walk-in-the-woods floral party dress *rolls eyes*.

We were hoping to spot some bluebells, but it turned out we were a week or so early. Still, we managed to find this cool little grassy patch, tucked amongst the beech trees.

The girls had a great time running down the trails and having stick sword fights. We’d had a run of illnesses in the month before, so it was nice for us all to get out in the fresh air and just be for a couple of hours.

By the time we made it back to the car we were ravenous, so we stopped for pizza on the way home. A bit naughty, but surely we’d worked the calories off in advance..? That’s my excuse, anyway.

I didn’t manage to snap one of OH in his Lighthouse jacket, but if you’re interested it was the RIGGER style in ink blue. I picked this one for him because I loved the look of the square patch pockets on the front, and the fact you can zip the hood away when you don’t need it. I also liked the shorter length, which gave it a really contemporary look.

And this was mine, the ISLA in french navy. I loved the fact the fabric was really soft and lightweight – I hate the feeling of bulky coats – and had a concealed hood.

All the raincoats are made from Lighthouse’s unique fabric, which is designed to be both highly waterproof and breathable – eliminating that awful clammy feeling of old-fashioned raincoats (who else remembers those old rubbery versions that were so stiff and heavy you could barely move in them? Hideous!)

So now we’re all decked out for the rain, we’re ready for the English summer… I’M KIDDING!

(I’m not kidding.)

• our Lighthouse raincoats were kindly provided for the purpose of review