Crafted in Britain The Survival of Britain's Traditional Industries

by Burton, Anthony; Scott, Rob

• ISBN13: 9781472922830
• ISBN10: 1472922832
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2017-04-25
• Publisher: Adlard Coles

Summary

Crafted in Britain is a celebration of Britain's traditional crafts and industries that have survived into the modern world, not as museums but on their merits. In an age of increasing automation and standardization, it is a joy to find such places, where craftsmanship and personal skills are still valued.

Their world is recreated in Rob Scott's dramatic photographs, while the processes and history of the different industries is described in the accompanying text by Anthony Burton. They have traveled the country from the Spey valley in Scotland, where they recorded the workers in a traditional distillery and a cooperage, to Cornwall and the studio of a specialist pub sign painter. They have gone underground with a Free Miner of the Forest of Dean and seen molten metal being poured to create majestic church bells.

The book delights in the variety and individuality of the different industries. For both author and photographer it has been a revelation to see some of these processes at work: to watch a craftsman take a strip of silver and work it by hand into a spoon, or to find clocks being made in a workshop that looks as if it has scarcely changed for a hundred years. Now readers have the opportunity to share these experiences and delight in the discovery of these magnificent survivors.

Author Biography

Anthony Burton contributes to Countryfile Magazine and has written books on Britain's industrial heritage, as well as three official National Trail guides. He has written and presented for the BBC, acted as historical adviser for the Discovery series Industrial Revelations and On the Rails, and appeared on Coast.

Rob Scott has worked as a photojournalist for thirty years. His work appears in Countryfile Magazine and BBC Music Magazine and on album covers for the Arctic Monkeys, Feeder, and the Clash.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Food for the Table
The grain mill and the millwright; the cheese maker; the smoke house

Setting the Table
The silversmith; the pottery

Two pints and a Dram
The maltings; the brewery; the cider maker; the distillery; the pub sign artist

The Church
The bell foundry; the stained glass studio; the organ builder

Building Materials
The stone quarry; the stone masons; the brickworks; the glass maker

Working Metal
The blacksmith; the foundry; the clock maker; the miner

The Printed Word
The paper mill; the printer and the illustrator; the book binder

What we Wear
The woollen mill; the tannery

The Sites