The Rainbow Hunters

Following a seven month trip around the world to seven countries to find the origin of the seven colours of the rainbow, the first pigments, made by the first colour-men, raising money for the charity War Child as they travelled.   Featured in a monthly column for The Independent.

In India Lindsay and her two children, Dow (10) and Orly (8) travelled to the saffron fields that lie in the mountains of Kashmir, joining the harvesters in a sea of blue crocuses which hide the yellow stamen that produces the most expensive spice in the world.

In China they trekked to temples to find the most prized china that the emperors were buried with, prized because it was glazed with celedon green.

In New Zealand they went in search of the lavender fields and the purple sea snails that weep the colour violet.

In Australia they ventured deep into the interior to find Aboriginal settlements and the ancient cave paintings of red ochre that date back to the earliest of mankind's paintings.

In Chile they sought out the Lapis Lazuli mines, that lie high in the Andes at 4000m, and found the rock that can be made into the blue pigment that has painted a thousand skies.

In South Carolina they travelled to the Indigo fields, to the plantations that carry the legacy of the American slave trade.

In Italy they discovered the secret recipe that is cremona, the orange varnish that has coloured the violins of Stradavi.