BOOTS SOLD FOR £50

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22520, 30 September 1938, Page 9

BOOTS SOLD FOR £SO

♦ "NEW ZEALAND'S WALKING GRANDMOTHER" RECENT TRAMP THROUGH BRITAIN DESCRIBED LTHK PRESS Special Service.! WELLINGTON. September 29. Nicknamed by the press of England "New Zealand's walking grandmother," Mrs Kitty O'Sullivan, who recently tramped across Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats in' 34 days, arrived back at Wellington to-day by the Remuera. She looked hale and gay. She said she did not intend to make any further long-distance walks, but waa contemplating learning to fly an aeroplane. "It was the Roughest walk I've ever undertaken." she said, describing her English exploit. "It was like walking on broken bottles at times—macadam all the way, and very rough. There was not even a grassy verge. It very nearly did for me." When she finished her walk she was offered £SO for her boots of Australian wallaby and New Zealand greenhide. She accepted. They were men's boots, and were still in good order after she had travelled 880 miles .in them; but they were not bought by someone else who wanted to wear them; but by a firm of leather manufacturers. Mrs O'Sullivan said the English public took the keenest interest in her walk. Big crowds lined the route, and

when she finished, although it was icily cold and sheeting with rain, many turned out to greet her. She was tired out, and found their questions trying, particularly when she was asked if she intended to walk back again, and if she never felt tired. All along the route she was entertained and cared for by Automobile Association scouts, and greeted by the Mayors of towns through which she passed. The Lord Mayor of London and the Lord Provost of Glasgow entertained her during her tour, and she was asked to broadcast on several occasions. She wore a New Zealand badge, and found it served her as a talisman.