Living National Treasures: Celebration of Britain's Crafts Through the Eyes of "Country Life" [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

It is a celebration of people who practise traditional, unusual and sometimes obscure, crafts. There are, however, a few common themes among the diverse collection of skills on display.

As would be expected, the "usual suspects" are there. A thatcher, farrier, butler and dry-stone waller are all included, along with several more occupations that we are accustomed to seeing in this type of publication.

My favourite crafts are probably those which fall into the "what a great way to make a living" category. Fancy being lucky enough to paint country houses, restore gypsy caravans or create mosaics, and get paid for it. No careers officer at school ever suggested these vocations, but by chance these roles are being carried out, full-time, by a very small number of creative people.

Certain of these skills will always be in demand. The wig maker, bell founder and coat maker (for the Household Cavalry) will always have orders that need fulfilling. Sadly, though, the future for some of the other crafts looks bleak. It must be difficult making ends meet as a coracle maker. The widespread availability of the Swiss Army knife, and it's ilk, has seen off all but one penknife cutler, and just what is the future for the bellows making industry? It is difficult to see.

Still, the book contains an index of names, addresses and contact telephone numbers for all it's subjects. Hopefully this will help these craftspeople to survive. So, if you really want one of the beautiful rustic huts (as shown in the book) to be installed in your back garden, a quick phone call should get things moving.

The book is beautifully illuminated with evocative photographs. You can almost smell the sawdust and sniff the oil in some of them. My main disappointment, though, is that there is not more narrative to further expand on the individualistic lives of the book's subjects, many of whom are described in two sentences. In contrast, Tom Quinn's "Tales of the Country Eccentrics" devotes several pages to some of his more colourful subjects (e.g. the inventor, the eel-catcher and the travelling taxidermist) enabling the reader to get to understand these people more fully.

All the craftspeople in "Living National Treasures" are clearly devoted to their chosen work, and at times the impression is gained that there is little room in some of their lives for anything else. But the work that many of these people do is so special that it cannot be otherwise. As their output is invariably dependant upon their own acquired skill and manual dexterity, only a wholehearted devotion to their chosen craft will enable them to produce the high standard of work of which they are all so proud.

The book covers a very broad spectrum of craftspeople, from Kendal Mint-Cake maker to Tram Superintendant. What it lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in breadth.

This book is a testament to the creativity of the British craftspeople, and their ingenuity to be able to make a living by "doing something different". In an era of grey suits, career structures and mass production it is re-assuring to know that some people still have a passion for their work, and are not just in it for the money.