After a slight delay due to techie issues too dull to post about, Lions Rampant’s online relaunch and new site will be on its way VERY shortly. We still have no definite launch date, but as soon as we know it we will publish it asap.

Above: We are guaranteed the weather will be better than the 1960’s… so come find us in the shopping village in Remenham Park!

We have Henley regatta this week, so any one too eager to wait - come and see us in the shopping village there… we will also be joined by an England and Tigers rugby player on Wednesday, so definitely worth the trip!

Hope you are as excited about the relaunch as we are!…

Rich x

Above: A strong king pins candidate!

As you know, Lions Rampant has a proud legacy of posting some of the best photos to show you what we are up to, how are customers like to rock their rampant’s and some less conventional uses for our products… generally involving our socks in interesting and sometimes bizarre environments! This post shows the pick of the bunch for Spring 09!

Above: Graham jumping for joy

Above: Bruce showing us his secret underwater love… Lions Rampant!

Above: Lions Rampant socks dominating the scrum for Esher RFC

Above: Desert rats.. I mean Lionesses

Now check this one out! For charity we sponsored one of the team, Ted to join the 1,000 people participating in the naked cycle around Brighton for a very good cause - trying to raise money for 2 wheelchairs for Junior de Silva and Daniel Netto; 2 disabled boys who live at Casa Lar in Rio. This will enable them to live more comfortable and fuller lives. We sponsored him to wear his socks and he didn’t let us down! To help support Quest4Change’s great cause please donate here:

www.justgiving.com/nakedted

And now for your evidence…

Above: Ted manning up for the cause… with his Achilles Zeals

Our next event is East of England show in Peterborough: 19th-21st June (Friday-Sunday)

Hope to see you there!

Website relaunch = IMMINENT!

Richard

A sneak peak behind the scenes video to get you as excited as we are about the IMPENDING RELAUNCH, CLOTHING and NEW SITE! Date TBC…

Roars and Paws,

Richard

Lions Rampant had a brilliant weekend, last week storming to sales success at the Hurlingham Polo in the Park World Series event. This event is the first polo event in Hurlingham park (the home of polo) since the second world war and this event turned out to be the event of the season with tens of thousands of spectators, celebrities by the dozen and that vital ingredient.. our socks!

Above: Fashionista loving Dianthus Azure!

We capitalised on the crowds and with several staff on, were still busy most of Saturday! Ten’s of people opted to sport their Rampant’s then and there… It might have something to do with how great they looked on our lovely lioneses, pictured below:

Above: LR girls pulling in the punters…

The girls did a Stirling job on the sales front aided by myself, Ted and Matt. We found it difficult to keep up with them though! Thanks go out to Olivia, Milly, Matt Anderson, Ted, The Bromleys (for keeping us fuelled), World Polo, Matt R and of course our loyal customers!

Above: Manic on Lions Rampant Road!

We also had the pleasure of meeting some more lovely families! Some of our little cub favourites are below! The youngest of which put me to shame with the rugby ball!

Above: The sweetest cubs ever?

Generally it was such a fun event and we had a crack team who made it even better! We hope to see many of you again TOMORROW at the South of England Show (Ardingley, Sussex) - 11th-13th June!

Above: Another Lions Rampant lover… with great pins

More succes on the polo field as Team Lions Rampant wins the Junior polo at Hurtwood Polo CLub last weekend. So success all round! See photo below:

Lions Rampant victorious!

Roars and Paws,

Richard

Above: Ted Chilling out with the socks at the mini rugby

Lions Rampant have been busy since Badminton. We have had 3 events - A mini rugby tournament at Brockenhurst College, polo at Hurtwood and The Chatsworth Horse Trials. Despite early success, the weather scuppered the last two events as Chatsworth was cancelled half way through due to the worsening weather conditions and the polo was hit hard by the rain as well, but Lions Rampant still managed to make the most of it!

Above: George, showing off his tan!

The mini rugby was based at Brockenhurst College near the New Forest. 700 mini rugby players and 1,300 parents participated in a great weekend.

Above: The winners, sporting their prizes, but not our socks! So they are losing inside

Ted and George Manned the stand and had a good time in the process… by the look of the photos!

Above: The new children’s sized socks - soon to launch online

Ted had to spend some time in the naughty stocks though:

Above: Naughty Ted!

We also went to one of our favourite parts of the world, Chatsworth!

Above: The glorious Chatsworth House, from the Lions Rampant Chariot

We stayed in a beautiful place in the Peak District and enjoyed a wondrous view every morning, like that of a postcard in a local newsagent:

Above: The beautiful Peak District

Charlie S helped us out for this one and did a terrific job, showing off the Charter Classics. the first day went extremely well, but our success was caught short, when the last and most popular day was cancelled due to bad weather. and unsafe ground.

Above: Charlie Spall - ROCKING THE RAMPANT’S

So that Sunday morning we jumped in the Rampant Chariot and whizzed at top (but legal!) speed to Ewhurst for the Hurtwood polo, where our friends Pete and Christian were helping us out for this other event.

Above: Through the clouds at the polo

Unfortunately the weather was unyielding and despite 1 glorious hour, it relentlessly hammered down and drove the crowds away from the stands. Lots of people thus missed out on our goodies, but for those who want to make up for their loss, we are back in August for the next event, and the weather better be good!

Above: The Rampant chest

Thanks for all who helped at these events. The next one is POLO IN THE PARK at THE HURLINGHAM CLUB, LONDON. 5th-7th June.

Update on the website. We have had a few technical issues to Iron out but it will definitely be ready for JUNE. Date TBC. It is well worth the wait…

Roars and Paws,

Richard

Above: Lions Rampant Clothing previews at Badminton

Badminton was one of the most successful events to date for Lions Rampant! Last week about 200,000 people filled the alleys of the small Gloucestershire town to watch the most notorious Horse Trials in the world.

Above: Lots of socks on show and new childrens sizes

Customers did not disappoint and despite the doom and gloom we are bombarded with daily, they all got their wallets out and snapped up hundreds of LR goodies.

Above: One customer showing off her children’s shooters

The weather was shining on us all and the atmosphere was jovial. The customers were smiling and we met some great people, from familiar faces to new ones who all wanted a piece of the Lions Rampant pie. The sales force - Ted and Charlie (aided by yours truly), did a particularly epic job with the help of our new stockists and friends in the Derby House crew!  A special thanks to all of the Derby House Crew! Thanks to Patty as well for all her help, kindness and generosity.

Above: Tarquin the bloodhound - loving Lions Rampant

There were lots of dogs about and we befriended a bloodhound by the name of Tarquin (above). He loved the rugby socks in particular.

Above: Lions Rampant shorts teaser

We also previewed our new clothing sold A LOT! The rugby’s and shorts were a major hit in particular… but as we don’t want to spoil the surprise we have thrown in some design teasers. If you want to buy some of our clothing pre web relaunch, come and see us at Chatsworth this weekend for the Horse Trials! 17th-18th in Rural Crafts tent.

WE ALSO HAVE A WINNER FOR OUR £400 + GOODIE BUNDLE (through sheerluxe.com). A congratulations goes out to Samantha Birkett of Surrey!

Roars and paws,

Rich x

Lions Rampant went to Belton the weekend before last for the International Horse Trials. Despite a slow start on the attendance front the crowds soon warmed up and Lions Rampant drew in the loyal to once more sample the hosiery delights within.

Above: Picturesque Belton House with showjumping in foreground

The backdrop was pretty spectacular with National Trust’s, Belton House, a dominating figure behind the showjumping (see above).

Above: Charlie - manning the Lions Rampant fort

We also sampled our NEW PRODUCT - the riding sock, which will officially LAUNCH at Badminton (this week) and it was extremely well received. This will be available on our new site and from Derby House. See below for a sneek peak.

Above: New riding socks.. coming SOON!

Thanks very much to Charlie (below) for helping us out for this event. Next year we are hoping for a more prominent spot… In the mean time - come and see us at Badminton this week! We will be in Derby House’s main stand - stand 19.

Above: Lions Rampant - LIMITED CLOTHING RANGE LAUNCHING @ Badminton this week

A LIMITED AMOUNT OF CLOTHING WILL BE LAUNCHED AT BADMINTON… COME SEE US WHILE STOCKS LAST!

Roars and paws,

Richard

Above: The new Lions Rampant Chariot

Lions Rampant have got a new member of the family… Not a conventional member - one made of metal, 4 wheels but heart none the less… Lions Rampant would like to introduce you to THE LION CHARIOT (above).

Above: the white van… which arrived on the doorstep on Monday

This was once a ‘white van’ (above). but as this would make me a ‘white van driver’ I was adamant we needed to Lions Rampant it up and inject some signature colour into it. So Dianthus Azure it is on one side and Blue Mantle on the other. Thanks to Signwise of Reading (in action below) for their hard work and K4 Creative for the great design.

Above: Sign wise fixing the graphics

The body work completed, the next step was the wheels. After all we make the best socks, so we felt we needed to put the best ‘feet’ on our vehicle to give it a fighting chance.

Above: Guildford tyre co. fixing up our wheels

After a bit of work the job was done and the Chariot is ready to be ridden! Please email info@lionsrampant.com with a time and location if you see our chariot and for your chance to win some free goodies.

Above: The van post pimp

We hope to see you at an event soon… Lots coming up!

Above: Follow us this year! We are hard to miss

more on our success at Belton Horse Trials in the next post.

Roars and Paws,

Richard

Above: James and David manning the fort early in the morning!

Lions Rampant had a long, but worthwhile drive to St Andrews, Scotland last weekend. It was the rugby sevens and Lions Rampant had a presence at this growing rugby event which seemed to go down very well and had a terrific attendance. The weather came out to play in the afternoon and it was a thoroughly enjoyed event by all.

Above: Me - feeling a tad worse for wear after a rebirth of fire on the rugby pitch

I even turned my hand to a bit of Sevens (although I was not quite in the perfect athletic shape! - see above) for the notorious RATPACK. We played far below our ‘potential’ and got knocked out in the quarter finals. Thanks to all the Ratpack boys for such an enjoyable week! Thanks to James, Luke and David as well for help with the stand on the day.

Above: St Andrews Sevens was very well attended by ‘fair weather’ supporters

Team mates could not resist buying our products as Graham shows below…

Above: team mate, Boothy, buying socks (at gunpoint)

We look forward to hopefully an even more active presence next year at this tournament!

Roars and Paws,

Richard

Lions Rampant has had a VERY busy April! We have a new site, clothing, kids socks, new colours, new stockists and more ALL LAUNCHING MAY 09!! So just a month to go now…

As we don’t want to spoil the surprise I can’t divulge too much, but I recommend all those who have yet to do so join our mailing list here- http://eepurl.com/ZD9

If you are already a member of our site you need not apply, but if you are not sure feel free to just in case.

Much more info to follow but for now I will leave you with a sneak peak…

Roars and Paws,

Richard