Go Wild

The Perfumed Mountaineer


Listen Later

Hayden Lorimer explores the double life of Walter Poucher: mountain photographer and perfumer. Poucher invented the perfume 'Bond Street' and also wrote upland guidebooks. He was a pioneer of mountain photography from the 1930s onwards and devised guidebooks that used photos to help hillwalkers and climbers. But he had a second life as well - in 1923 he had published a three volume handbook on perfumes and cosmetics that remains in print and, working for the perfumers Yardley, he invented one of their signature smells, the perfume Bond Street. These unlikely twin lives came together when he field tested his fragrances and make-up across the hills and fells of Britain. Sweaty mountaineers were not quite sure what to make of Walter but he resolutely and happily continued to mix his two lives and interests. In a celebrated moment of TV history in 1980 the pop singer Grace Jones attacked the chat show host Russell Harty live on air, the other guest on camera at the time was a befuddled looking Walter Poucher. Yet when it came to staging and managing your life Walter perhaps was ahead of the game and knew things that would have surprised both Grace Jones and Russell Harty. Here was a metrosexual man decades before he was supposed to have evolved.

Hayden Lorimer, geographer at Glasgow University and committed hill-runner, explores the life and times of the Perfumed Mountaineer.

Produced by Tim Dee. First broadcast on Monday 14 May 2012.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Go WildBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

9 ratings


More shows like Go Wild

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,689 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,051 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,538 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,816 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,830 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,054 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,042 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,176 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,149 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

765 Listeners