James Fox. Vintage Publishing, (304p) ISBN: 9781847927866. History, read 11/07/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Craftland

I loved the idea of this, taking a journey around Britain looking at crafts and skill as you go.

At the Heritage Crafts website there is a list called the Red List of Endangered Crafts which I had seen prior to reading this book and it lists all the hand-crafts in Britain that are in danger of dying out.

James Fox sets out on a journey looking at trades and crafts that were at the core of our lives for centuries and longer but that are at danger of disappearing due to change in the modern world.

Meeting all these people who are doing jobs as they have been done through time and in traditional ways is uplifting, the obvious knowledge and passion for the job is clear but this is alloyed with the knowledge that it is a job, it is what they do, what else would they do?

We tour through the wild of Scotland and the Yorkshire Dales building walls and thatches in the old ways, through the steel making districts of Sheffield, coopering in Ireland, all the way to traditional African crafts in London plus much more.

Each discussion is inspiring and uplifting whilst being a call for action, even if it is just to remind us to buy local and renewable, buy small and handmade, support the artisan not the capitalist that is good enough, but this book is much more than that. It’s also a call to explore your own ability to make and not be put off by this as there is a history and tradition of small crafts people working from home, alone and in groups to make what they and others need and supporting their community in doing so.

A wonderful book that looks at crafts and skills with a warm embrace and encourages us to do similar.