ABSTRACT
I think I must devote a chapter to that ‘Co-operative Tour’ in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the autumn of 1851, ‘notes’ of the business part of which were published in the second volume of the Christian Socialist, and to the friendships which grew out of it. It was intended to be, and was, in great measure, a walking tour, in company with T.Hughes, but he had to leave me before long, and in the latter part of it I was alone. I was determined to have as little luggage as possible, but did not care to carry a knapsack, so I instructed W. Cooper to make for me a garment with the largest number of the largest pockets possible. The result was a masterpiece of the sartorial art, with no less than fourteen pockets, big and small, holding a nightshirt and slippers in one, a spare shirt collar and a shirt in another, brush, comb and toothbrush in another, and altogether sufficient to provide for two or three days' tramp, without recurring to any other luggage; dust-coloured moreover, [In anticipation of khaki (1900).] so that it did not take the dirt. I had never travelled on foot before, and twelve miles walk between Gloucester and Newnham, done within 7 minutes of the three hours, had been my greatest pedestrian achievement. Hughes, on the other hand, was a splendid stepper, and had once walked up from Brighton to Charlotte Street, to attend one of our lectures. The consequence was that I was at first dead-beat, but he prescribed for me a restorative till then unknown to me, a pint of half and half made hot with a small jorum of gin in it. I am not either a beer or gin-drinker, but I am bound to say his prescription acted on me like a charm, so that after food and rest I was able to walk several miles further that evening.
