Meet Dietrich a German Journeyman. His odd costume tells those in the know that he is a fully trained craftsman traveling and looking for work to broaden his experience. In Germany folk instantly recognise this and so it makes life easy to get lifts when hitchiking or folk will simply offer him food and lodgings in exchange for some work.…
We all know that as a country we have to tighten our belt and spend less. In Jeremy Hunt’s first speech as Culture Secretary he said he could assure the arts community that it would not be a soft option for cuts though he also wanted to promote American style philanthropy within the art world. There is now a bit…
What a beautiful name for a beautiful vessel. Each area of the British coastline evolved particular types of traditional boats developed to suit the shoreline and the local fishing methods. The Lerret was the boat of the Dorset coast read more about them and how they were used here and here. By this time last year there was only one…
Whilst at the Museum of English Rural Life a few weeks ago Terrence McSweeney told us the wonderful story of his mother’s basketmaking. I asked him to email me details which I am sure others will enjoy as much as I did so here you are in Terence’s words. In 1976 there were only a few professional basketmakers in Ireland:…
Back in April after a day breaking stones for a new footpath I wrote asking if hard work was good or bad. Jeff one of my blog readers in the US mentioned a new book by Matthew Crawford. “Shopcraft as Soulcraft:An Inquiry into the Value of Work” It was not out in the UK so I ordered it from the…
Just clearing photos off my camera, it was interesting to see how dry and brown everything was down south, I think it is only when you travel abroad and come home that you realise how amazingly green Britain generally is. Driving home coming back into Edale we met sheep in the road which made us feel like we were back…
There are some major perks of my work and I certainly count a week at Glastonbury Festival as one. My friend and HCA supporter Nigel Townshend came down to help set up and man the stand and tell people about the work of the Heritage Crafts Association. This is what our stand looked like, I rather like the mix of…
The Heritage Crafts Association have launched a map of traditional craftspeople in the UK. This great map allows you to zoom in to your county or area and follow links to websites or get contact details of interesting traditional craftspeople to visit or commission. If you are a traditional craftsperson and not on the map yet you can input your…
Brian is secretary of the Heritage Crafts Association and a second generation chair caner with over 40 years personal experience Today Brian shared a picture of his work with the committee and I thought HCA supporters may be interested too. “Currently commissions are just rolling in without any effort on my part, many of which are ordinary but some are…
In the UK traditional crafts fall outside the remit of all government support agencies. We do not fit in the innovative artistic remit of the Crafts Council and English Heritage’s remit is buildings and monuments. This leaves traditional basketmakers, sievemakers, Sheffield folding knife makers, country potters, weavers and anyone else making traditional functional craftwork without an agency to promote and…
