When you hear the word Albion, chances are your mind drifts to a certain football team in the West Midlands. But the name goes much, much further back than terraces and top flights.
Albion is one of the oldest names for Great Britain. But not as we know it today – not the one of ring roads, inbox overloads, and overpriced espresso. Albion was something else entirely. A dream. A myth. A whispered story passed around in the glow of firelight.
In ancient times, Albion was spoken of like a fairytale. A distant, magical version of Britain – untouched, unspoiled, and alive with natural beauty. Later, Romantic poets like William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley carried the legend into verse, writing about Albion as a lost ideal. A spiritual homeland. A Britain worth believing in.
If it felt far away then, you might wonder if it’s even possible to reach it now. But that’s sort of the point. Albion is not just a place. It’s a search. And if you’re willing to chase it, you might just find something real.
That’s the sentiment behind Return to Albion, a new collection from Acid Running – a brand effortlessly blending city grit with wilderness dreams, communicated through the canvas of running gear.
Born in the heart of Londiminium, the Acid Running crew know the benefits of running anywhere – be it Hackney’s pavements or Hyde Park’s greens. But like us, they know that the real journey begins when you leave the city behind.
With that shared vision in mind, we joined forces with the Acid Running crew to assist them in their hunt for Albion – the true, mythical kind. So we unravelled our map (Google Maps) and began searching… Searching to find a landscape worthy of the poets. Informed only by a tiny inkling that Albion could be found somewhere in hidden deep in the depths of the North West.
After much searching and plenty of debating, we had a lead: Dovedale, a lush valley in the Peak District, cut in two by the mighty River Dove.
So, with mist still clinging to the hills, we packed up the van, circled Derbyshire on the map (dropped a pin on Google Maps), and reassured the Acid Running crew that Northerners don’t really eat people.
As we drove north, the tower blocks gave way to rolling hills, and a colour palette of grey slowly turned into green. And without saying a word, we all felt it – that sense of homecoming. Of leaving behind the noise for something older, quieter, and truer.
A fortress-like National Trust car park marked the final barrier between ourselves and the mythical homeland, fortunately, though we had some change in the glovebox, so we paid the seven quid charge and stepped into a completely different world. The grass was greener, the water was clearer, and the air was cleaner. This was it. What we had been looking for. This was Albion.
So, with jaws agape, we unloaded the gear from the new Acid Running collection, and the models did what they do best – they ran. Through Dovedale’s woodlands. Over limestone outcrops. Across the river itself. The photos you’ll find in this article are the result of that day. A kind of proof that Albion, in its own way, still exists.
The location is stunning, and so is Acid Running’s gear – if you’re ever feeling the weight of the modern world, we’d urge you: go looking for Albion. Even if you don’t find it, you’ll find something worth running toward.
Acid Running’s Return to Albion collection is available to purchase here.
A full feature on ‘Return to Albion’ is available to read in Issue 48 of Proper Magazine.
