Living National Treasure

The rare-chicken breeder: 'Watching hens having a dust bath is a delight'

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.

The Queen's rocking-horse maker: ‘Many clients commission replicas of favourite horses’

Tessa Waugh meets Marc Stevenson of Stevenson Brothers rocking horses.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The kipper-smoker: ‘A lot of the lads are made to undress outside when they get home’

Tessa Waugh meets Neil Robson of Craster in Northumberland, the man responsible for the best smoked kippers in Britain.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 of Smythson items each year. He spoke to Tessa Waugh.

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. Mary Miers found out how it's done.

Orthopaedic shoe-making: The bridge between architecture and podiatry

John Goodall meets Bill Bird, who, having studied architecture at the Bartlett, now makes orthopaedic shoes.