Apparently the collective term for a load of gloves is an ‘elicat’ though the biggest dictionary we have along with google have failed to confirm it. We thought a better term would be a ‘missing’ as one always is!

Either way, we have a pile of gloves/mitts here in the collection which we have kept together since they are all from the same era and all belonged to Dick Gowers, who was a leading light in the Creag Dhu Mountaineering Club and one of the first to instruct at Glenmore Lodge in the 1940s.

All the gloves/mitts are ex WD (War Department) and have the classic crows foot mark. One pair, at least, is made by Thomas Ensor & Sons of Milborne Port, Somerset in 1941 and we suspect the others are of the same vintage and manufacturer. This excellent ‘elicat’ of gloves is a classic example of a post war Britain when ex WD gear was about the only gear available to hillwalkers, climbers and mountaineers. Fortunately, most of it was good quality, durable and cheap!