We met Jim Buchanan in Poolewe one snowy morning in January 2025. Jim and his wife Mary had started a little clothing company there in 1982 and called it Slioch after the mountain a few miles down the road beside Loch Maree.

Specialising in bespoke, made to measure garments, they came into contact with RAF and civilian mountain rescue teams and began providing them with tough, rugged and durable clothing for the harsh environment in which they operated.

Mary and Jim sold Slioch to another couple, Tes and Catherine Urquart-Taylor in the 1990s, they carried on trading for a decade or so until finally running out of luck and business in 2006 – so Slioch the company was no more.

Slioch made lots of other clothing items in their time and Jim thought he might still have one or two stashed away in the loft, he had, and so he kindly posted them down, this Spindrift Fleece was one of them. The Pertex version would have cost around £97.50 in 1990 and the Ventile £107.00. Jim didn’t even charge for the postage. Awrabest as he would say.