Giving it welly in the fashion stakes

Gardeners know there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.

Wellington boots, popularised in canvas during the Napoleonic Wars, are a horticultural classic.

Wellies start for €10 a pair. Cheap PVC versions are cheerful but sweaty, poor performers. Serious wellingtons are rubber — durable, flexible and impermeable to water. The best have a neoprene lining as used in wet-suits, for the colder months.