Nobody on this forum should be without this book.
first published in 1968, It can be picked up for one pence on amazon, and is an absolute wealth of information.
It covers just about every country craft you can think of. [See photo below for just some of the chapter titles]
And its written in an engaging manner, which highlights the historical significance of the craft, and puts us in touch with our Saxon and Celtic cultural heritage, by telling us how and why that particular craft first came about.
With an emphasis on the UK.
For instance, opening a page, at random, begins thus;
In the beginning, in Celtic times, the farrier and the ironworker at the anvil were one and the same person...
Or this method of sawing a plank can be traced as far back to roman times etc, etc etc.
The photos of the 18th century craftsmen, are wonderful to behold. Like the blacksmiths forge, or the blacksmiths tools, or the details of farm wagons, or the long straw thatching in progress, or wood carvers at work, or pole lathe turners, spinning wheels, coracles, horn working, crab baskets, traps, willow stripping, making wattle hurdles etc etc etc.
There are 64 black and white photos, some colour photos, interspersed throughout are plates of celtic treasures such as the bronze age battersea shield, and there are many more sketches.
One of those books that can be read cover to cover, or delved into, at random.
You can buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shell-Country-Crafts-James-Arnold/dp/0212998218
first published in 1968, It can be picked up for one pence on amazon, and is an absolute wealth of information.
It covers just about every country craft you can think of. [See photo below for just some of the chapter titles]
And its written in an engaging manner, which highlights the historical significance of the craft, and puts us in touch with our Saxon and Celtic cultural heritage, by telling us how and why that particular craft first came about.
With an emphasis on the UK.
For instance, opening a page, at random, begins thus;
In the beginning, in Celtic times, the farrier and the ironworker at the anvil were one and the same person...
Or this method of sawing a plank can be traced as far back to roman times etc, etc etc.
The photos of the 18th century craftsmen, are wonderful to behold. Like the blacksmiths forge, or the blacksmiths tools, or the details of farm wagons, or the long straw thatching in progress, or wood carvers at work, or pole lathe turners, spinning wheels, coracles, horn working, crab baskets, traps, willow stripping, making wattle hurdles etc etc etc.
There are 64 black and white photos, some colour photos, interspersed throughout are plates of celtic treasures such as the bronze age battersea shield, and there are many more sketches.
One of those books that can be read cover to cover, or delved into, at random.
You can buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shell-Country-Crafts-James-Arnold/dp/0212998218
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