Living National Treasure
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The hedgelayer: ‘There’s nothing better than seeing a nicely laid hedge’
Tessa Waugh meets Tina Bath, who’s been laying hedges in Somerset for 32 years.
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The rare-chicken breeder: 'Watching hens having a dust bath is a delight'
Andrew and Sue Bowden have been saving rare chicken breeds for 40 years. They spoke to Tessa Waugh; portraits by Richard Cannon.
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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’
Tessa Waugh meets one of Britain’s most distinguished figurative sculptors.
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The Queen's rocking-horse maker: ‘Many clients commission replicas of favourite horses’
Tessa Waugh meets Marc Stevenson of Stevenson Brothers rocking horses.
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The lock-gate maker: ‘Maintaining them can be a bit like painting the Forth Bridge’
Tessa Waugh meets Steve Brunt, a workshop supervisor for the Canal and River Trust, which is dedicated to protecting and maintaining more than 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales.
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The glass-eye maker: ‘I make sure that the eye fits, but psychology comes into my work as well’
Tessa Waugh meets Jost Haas, the only remaining maker of glass eyes working in Britain today.
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The lace-maker: ‘We make something that the Chinese can’t copy’
Tessa Waugh meets Cluny Lace, the only company flying the flag for British lace.
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The Blackpool rock maker: ‘We’ve done Marmite flavour, tikka-masala flavour – whatever the customer wants’
Tessa Waugh meets Coronation World – the makers of this seaside speciality.
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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 across Northumbria. He spoke to Tessa Waugh; portraits by Richard Cannon.
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The Stonemason: 'Working on a cathedral is the pinnacle of architectural stone-masonry'
A team of stonemasons is hard at work restoring Canterbury's magnificent cathedral, employing techniques that have been used since the dawn of civilisation. They spoke to Tessa Waugh.
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The Maltster: How an art that's thousands of years old is once again gaining recognition
There are only a handful of people left in Britain who still extract malt from Barley using the 'floor-made' method – and today, people are beginning to value their efforts more than ever. Tessa Waugh explains.
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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’
Andy Peters is probably the only person in Britain who could describe himself as a full-time ship’s carver. He spoke to Tessa Waugh.
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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 to the Mediterranean.
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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 in demand around the world. He spoke to Tessa Waugh; portraits by Richard Cannon.
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The traditional Brick-Maker who supplies Hampton Court: 'It’s like kneading dough'
There is only one company left in Britain still producing hand-made bricks – and their customers include the likes of Hampton Court. Tessa Waugh spoke to the gentlemen of H. G. Matthews.
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The mole-catcher: 'A molehill, it isn’t just a pile of earth – it’s a key to a strange little world’
Mole-catcher Jeff Nicholls speaks to Tessa Waugh about catching the ‘mysterious’ and ‘tenacious’ little mole.
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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’
Kathryn Bradley-Hole meets Owen Jones, the only full-time oak swill basket maker in Britain.
