S
Walking sticks are simple but highly effective aids to mobility and are routinely used by more than 27% of pensioners, of whom almost half also use them for other purposes in addition to walking, including queue thrusting, retrieving swans and constructing lightweight scaffolding.
The best walking sticks are made of Algonquin hickory but these can be prohibitively expensive and most pensioners opt for alternative materials such as bamboo, liquorice or spaghetti.
The UK Walking Stick Museum in Chester-le-Street houses more than 12,000 examples and among the fascinating exhibits are the whale bone stick owned by Charles Darwin, the suitably wooden stick owned by Charles Dance, an organic rhubarb stick, which also cures dandy-fever and crewells, owned by Prince Charles and a very rare stick insect stick donated by Craig David.