We are proud to have sponsored Manchester comic artist Oliver East while he retraced a historical 200 mile Victorian walk, which was undertaken by Maharajah, the Asian elephant, and his keeper, Lorenzo Lawrence in 1872.
We showed our support by helping Oliver finance the journey, as well as donating a large amount of kit from its popular outdoor range, including; jackets, trousers, fleeces, socks, t-shirts and shorts to keep him comfortable and protected during his challenging trip.
Commissioned by Lakes International Comic Art Festival and Manchester Museum – which now houses the skeleton of the infamous Maharajah as one of its prize exhibits – the 200 mile tribute walk took place over 10 days, starting in Stow, Edinburgh on 8th April and finishing at the Manchester Museum on 17th April.
Maharajah belonged to Wombwell’s Royal Number One famous travelling menagerie, but when it closed in 1872, all the animals were sold by auction in Edinburgh. The Asian elephant was purchased by the owners of Manchester’s Belle Vue Zoological Gardens and they planned to send him by train to Manchester, but this plan altered rapidly when he immediately wrecked his railway carriage. Thrown off the train, his keeper suggested that they should walk to Manchester, and they did over the next ten days. The walk in the Spring of 1872 was well documented in local papers and paintings/drawings recording the event remain in the Manchester Museum and Manchester Art Gallery.
Jim Mcnamara, Craghoppers Managing Director, said: “This mammoth journey was an incredible feat back in its day and is an impressive story to tell now.
“By retracing the historical steps of the intrepid elephant and his keeper, Oliver East has brought back to life a legendary tale in a way that engages the public with their local history and surrounding landscape, which played an important part in the story.
“We always endeavour to support projects which resonate with us as a company and as a brand, and this particular project really struck a chord with us on two levels.
“Firstly, the strong Manchester connection and secondly, the fact that it is a story all about walking and being in the outdoors. The ‘Take Me Back to Manchester’ walk is a great achievement for Oliver and we congratulate him on completing the epic journey!”
Following the walk, Oliver will create a comic book ‘Take Me Back To Manchester’ and will also make 20 large scale drawings that will form the basis of an exhibition at Manchester Museum alongside the skeleton of Maharajah. The exhibition of ‘Take Me Back To Manchester’ is due to take place in early 2016.
The walk was filmed by Cumbrian based film makers and the documentary film ‘Take Me Back To Manchester’ will be shown at the Brockhole Visitor Centre in the Lake District from 8-17 May and also at the Toronto Comic Art Festival in May 2015.
Starting in Stow, the ‘Take Me Back to Manchester’ walk passed through Hawick, Langholm, Carlisle, Penrith, Kendal, Lancaster, Preston and finished in Manchester.