The stained-glass maker: ‘It’s powerful, volatile… too overwhelming for domestic settings’
Thomas Denny makes windows that are not only pictures hidden in colourful patterns, but complex interweavings of naturalistic and biblical imagery, radiant and spiritual.
The neon sign maker: ‘Piccadilly Circus was our answer to Vegas – now it’s all pixellated screens’
‘Every time I come here, it blows my mind,’ admits Marcus Bracey as he approaches Gods Own Junkyard, his neon emporium in Walthamstow.
The putcher fisherman: Flying the flag for a dying way of life
Chris Cadogan, the only remaining fisherman to practice this medieval method on the Severn.
The sculptor: ‘Every day, I go into the studio in the morning and set about things. I don’t know any other way to live’
James Butler (MBE, RA, RWA, FRBS) is in his late 80s and still sculpting every day.
The glass-eye maker: ‘I make sure that the eye fits, but psychology comes into my work as well’
Jost Haas, the only remaining maker of glass eyes working in Britain today.
The ship’s figurehead carver: ‘It used to be a profession and every port would have had one, but now it’s a dying art’
In the expert hands of Andy Peters, pine is sculpted into a glorious array of decorative items, but the show-stopping figureheads that stand up to 15ft high are his bread-and-butter.
The glassblower: ‘When something goes wrong you can’t fix it – you just sling in into the bosh bucket and start again’
Ian Shearman's team of glassblowers are still making glass using a technique that's 2,000 years old.
The swill basket maker: ‘Even after 30 years, it’s still a challenge; every tree is different and each batch of baskets has its own journey’
You could travel many miles to find someone who relishes his working day as much as Owen Jones enjoys creating oak swill baskets.
The poppy maker: ‘I was very weak, very emotional and in a bad place when I started, but I’m back to my old self again now’
Wish Lloyd battled a traumatic childhood, the army, an athletics injury and homelessness to find his place at the Poppy Factory, making the poppies we wear every November.
The luthier: 'You don’t know if you’ve been successful until you put the strings on. That’s the moment when it comes alive.'
Tom Sands talks about his life making guitars – and pays tribute to his mentor, a 'cross between Gandalf, Yoda and Mr Miyagi from The Karate Kid.'
Credit: ©Richard Cannon/Country Life Picture Library
The Pigeon Fancier: 'I set up a deckchair in the garden and wait for them to come back. That’s the most exciting part.'
This week’s Living National Treasure is Colin Hill, a pigeon fancier whose birds regularly race from the tip of Scotland
The Florist: 'What I do is like good cooking – if you have beautiful ingredients, you can’t go wrong'
This week's Living National Treasure is royal florist Shane Connolly – and while he might be based in Britain, he's
The dry stone wall builder: 'Every metre of wall contains a ton of stone. You really feel it after a hard week.'
This week's Living National Treasure is Anthony Gorman, a man who has spent his life building beautiful walls by hand
The gold stamper: ‘The younger generation is very appreciative of artisan work – they’re the ones driving the trend’
This week's Living National Treasure is John Timms, the man who leads the team that stamps gold lettering into thousands
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Country Life's Quiz of the Day, 10 February 2025: How many people live in Shetland?Guess the house price, remember the stuff you learned at school and take wild stabs in the dark. You'll love it.
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A 17th century country house estate for sale in Yorkshire that's not too big and not too smallTake a look inside one of the finest private houses in the north of England that's perfectly manageable as a family house.
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'We moved here to be in a remote area, but there are 1,000 cars and motorhomes passing my house every day. It’s like Disneyland': How Scotland's best roads are causing local people the biggest headaches10 years after it was established, the North Coast 500 continues to divide opinion. More tourism means more money, but for those who live along the route, their peaceful lives have been turned upside down. Matthew MacConnell investigates.
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‘What we petrolheads wanted but feared we’d never get’: Behind the wheel of Audi’s new, all-electric A6 e-tron AvantHis Majesty is a known fan of an Audi estate, but what will he — and Country Life — make of the brand new EV version?
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Country Life's top 10 arts stories of 2024From the artist killed on his first day in the war to a masterpiece once sold for £30, these were our most popular arts stories of 2024.
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The grand master 'paintings' that are actually the most exquisite floral photographs you'll ever seeHarald Altmaier’s photographs of floral tableaux, as colossal in effort as in scale, recall 17th-century Dutch still lifes, but the inspiration behind them is far wider, as Carla Passino finds.
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Dawn Chorus: The photographer-florist creating modern Grand Masters, plus Ashdown Forest and our Quiz of the DayA look at the work of Harald Altmaier, an unusual solution to an imaginary problem, and much more besides in today's Dawn Chorus.
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Goodwood Revival 2024: What you missed at the world's most elegant motor race weekendThe Goodwood Revival is one of the highlights of the summer — even when the weather does its best to put a damper on things.
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The foundry where Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Nic Fiddian-Green cast their bronzesOne of the oldest foundries in the world, Morris Singer in Hampshire has a long and storied past, creating art and sculpture for everyone from artists to dictators.
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'If you get 12 great photographs a year, you're doing well': Charlie Waite on the secrets of landscape photographyThe world-renowned landscape photographer Charlie Waite joins the Country Life Podcast.
