Rural History & Bygones
Agricultural Hand Tools
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 630 5 / Shire Library SLI 100 / 32 pp
A range of tools, once familiar to the farmworker, gradually became obsolete during the twentieth century. This album describes these tools and the farming processes they performed in the period before the general dominance of the tractor and combine harvester.
Animal-powered Machines
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 710 4 / Shire Library SLI 128 / 32 pp
This is a book about a little known element in the history of motive power, the animal powered machine. Windmills and watermills survive in most parts of Britain, but animal-powered machines, whether vertical treadwheels or horizontal horse engines, are hardly known, despite the significant contribution they made to the history of mining and agriculture in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. The development of the railways and the availability of coal caused the use of animal power to decline rapidly, but a number of these early machines still survive today. The author identifies the various types of machine, the jobs they performed and how they evolved with the onset of the industrial revolution.
J. Kenneth Major is an architect with a life-long interest in windmills, watermills and animal-powered machines. A former Chairman of the Wind and Watermill Section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. As the representative for the western Home Counties on the Council for British Archaeology Industrial Monuments Committee he has been involved in the rescue and restoration of three horse engines, and this led him into the study of that neglected form of prime mover, the animal-powered machine. He had studied these machines in Britain and Europe and, with Hugo Brunner, wrote ‘Water Raising by Animal Power’, which was the first comprehensive study of one branch of the subject. This Shire title was written to draw together the whole range of knowledge concerning this area of industrial archaeology.
British Cattle
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 514 4 / Shire Library SLI 392 / 40 pp
This book describes all the existing breeds of British cattle and many of those that have already become extinct.
Charcoal and Charcoal Burning
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 731 9 / Shire Library SLI 159 / 32 pp
This book describes the rapid growth of the charcoal industry up to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and how the emphasis of development changed to the production and refining of charcoal's by-products - acetic acid, tar and wood spirit - for the textile industry and the rapidly growing chemical industries.
Cider Making
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 614 5 / Shire Library SLI 95 / 32 pp
Cidermaking is one of the ancient rural crafts of Britain and north-western Europe. The major producing counties are Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire. In these areas cidermaking has traditionally been a central part of the rural calendar, the farm labour force regularly producing hundreds or thousands of gallons from the farm’s own fruit. To be consumed the following summer during the thirsty time of haymaking and harvest. This book explains the techniques and traditions of the old-style orchardist and farm cidermaker, as well as the story of the traveling cidermaker. The Victorian itinerant craftsman with his portable
Clogs and Clogmaking
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 665 7 / Shire Library SLI 113 / 32 pp
Coachbuilding
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 688 2 / Shire Library SLI 476 / 64 pp
Corn Milling
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 671 4 / Shire Library SLI 98 / 48 pp
Corn milling –the reduction of hard cereal grains to form a usable foodstuff – is one of the oldest crafts. While windmills and watermills are given deserved notice, the milling process and the modern development of the industry are usually taken for granted. The history of milling is exceptional in the necessity of the process and its continuing importance, and its unique buildings and machines, which had a marked effect on contemporary technology. With increased interest in wholesome foods, energy conservation and the preservation of technological history, this book provides a window into the milling industry, covering both traditional and modern mills and presenting a working picture of the industry.
Martin Watts has been studying mills since the 1960s, especially windmills and watermills. He was curator of Worsbrough Mill Museum in South Yorkshire for three years and then spent seven years repairing a watermill in Devon and setting up a stoneground flour business. Since 1988 he has worked as a traditional millwright and consultant, his work covering many aspects of the repair, maintenance, conservation and interpretation of historic mills and their machinery. A former chairman of the Mills Section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and a founder member of the Traditional Corn Millers Guild, he has visited mills in many parts of Britain and Europe and is author of a number of articles and books including for Shire Water and Wind Power, Watermills and Windmills.
Dairying Bygones
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 866 8 / Shire Library SLI 29 / 32 pp / Available March 2008
Dairying probably originated in Neolithic times, when man first began to keep livestock. At first sheep and goats were the chief sources of milk but by the sixteenth century the cow had become the principal diary animal. At this period most cottagers had their own cow and processed its products for their own use. But by the mid eighteenth century many farmers were specialising in the production of milk, butter and cheese for sale. Victorian farmers who could afford to equipped their farms with modern dairies and the latest appliances; the less affluent made do with older and more homely equipment. Farm dairies were gradually superseded by large factory-based firms, but many of the objects used by many of the old farmers and country folk, such as milking stools and pails, churns for making butter, butter beaters, cheese vats, curd knives, and cheese presses, can be seen in museums, particularly in those devoted to rural life and old farming practice.
The late Arthur Ingram had a great interest in old agriculture and rural life, and amassed and curated a collection of over 1100 ‘rural bygones’.
Discovering Corn Dollies
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 283 3 / Shire Discovering 199 / 48 pp / February 2008
Corn Dollies have played a significant part in rural folklore all over the world. This book explores some of the ancient myths behind the making of straw figures, such as the belief that making offerings to the gods would ensure a plentiful harvest. Key techniques of straw plaiting are explained and illustrated, and many of the traditional designs of the dolly, as well as some modern examples, are described.
Discovering Country Winemaking
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 480 6 / Shire Discovering 249 / 64 pp
This book is intended for people interested in making their own country wines. Step-by-step instructions guide the beginner's first attempt at winemaking.
Discovering Dowsing and Divining
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 516 2 / Shire Discovering 251 / 40 pp
Dowsing and divining - the tracing of underground water, minerals, pipes or cables. This book sets out to prove that anyone can dowse, and it also dispels the commonly accepted myth that dowsing is a gift enjoyed by a few practitioners.
Discovering Hill Figures
Price: £6.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 345 4 / Shire Discovering 12 / 104 pp
‘There are more than thirty major figures cut out of the grass on Britain’s hillsides; cut as religious symbols, way markers, or as decoration to the landscape. Often, although prominently placed, the figures are overlooked, and in this book the author describes their exact location, the best point to view them and their history and legends.’ The Times.
Kate Bergamar is a pen name for Margaret Baker, author of other Shire tiles Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore, Discovering Folklore of Plants and London Statues and Monuments.
Discovering Horse Drawn Farm Machinery
Price: £6.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 664 0 / Shire Discovering 245 / 96 pp / Available March 2008
Until the reign of Queen Anne oxen were widely used for ploughing, and most other jobs on the farm, such as harvesting, were done manually by farm labourers. But at the beginning of the eighteenth century the Agricultural Revolution began. Oxen were displaced by horses for ploughing and the famous heavy breeds of Shires, Clydesdales and Suffolks developed. Horses were more versatile than oxen and came to be used for many tasks other than ploughing. Following the Industrial Revolution the ingenuity of Victorian manufacturers produced an enormous range of horse-drawn agricultural machinery – not just ploughs, but grubbers, cultivators, harrows, rollers, drills, reapers, binders, root lifters, manure spreaders, rakes and many other types – which continued in use until the tractor replaced the horse from the 1930s. In this book the author describes these machines and includes drawings of many of them, as well as photographs.
D.J. Smith was born in Birmingham and educated at University College, Cardiff. He took a lifelong interest in transport and the English countryside and is probably best known for his classic series of studies for Shire, which all featured his own characteristic drawings.
Discovering Old Buttons
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 445 5 / Shire Discovering 213 / 80 pp
Domestic Ducks and Geese
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 447 5 / Shire Library SLI 378 / 40 pp
The keeping of geese and ducks by people as a source of food dates back much earlier, perhaps as far as the first human settlements. This book describes and illustrates most of the domestic breeds that can be seen in Britain including: Aylesbury, Pekin, Rouen, Indian Runner, Khaki Campbell and Call ducks, Embden, Toulouse, Brecon Buff, and others.
Dry Stone Walls
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 620 2 / Shire Library SLI 114 / 40 pp
This book explains the reasons for building dry stone walls, the story of their development, technical details of their construction, regional styles and the state of the craft today.
Duck Decoys
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 497 0 / Shire Library SLI 361 / 40 pp
This title is about duck decoys - elaborate traps for catching wildfowl. The decoy consists of a pond with several arms covered with netting.
Falconry
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 694 3 / Shire Library SLI 115 / 48 pp
Falconry is one of the most demanding sports. It requires patience, intuition and skill in the training of a hawk, craftsmanship in the making and tooling of the equipment, and knowledge of the countryside and of the quarry which the hawk hunts. This book explores the formation of the relationship between man and hawk. It includes an outline of the history of falconry, a guide to falconry as it is practised today, notes on the popular species employed, and descriptions of the equipment used. It emphasises the contribution falconers are making to conversation and research.
Emma Ford has been flying hawks since she was eight. In 1982 she and her husband established the British school of Falconry, which now has branches in Scotland and Vermont, USA. She is a member of the Hawk Board, the government advisory panel on captive hawks. She has written five other books on falconry, as well as a humorous autobiography and Countrywoman, based on a television series in which she was the subject of one programme.
Harvesting Machinery
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 979 5 / Shire Library SLI 234 / 32 pp
Heavy Horses
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 602 8 / Shire Library SLI 431 / 64 pp
Heavy horses played a pivotal role in the development of western economies, toiling in mines and quarries, at mills, factories and docks, alongside canals and railway lines, in fields and pasture. But with the invention of the tractor and motor lorry their numbers plummeted, with some breeds close to extinction in the 1950s. Today, after a revival of interest, Shires, Clydesdaies, Suffolks and British Percherons attract special attention whenever they are seen, their magnificence and strength ensuring them a place in the modern world. This book examines the breeds and their qualities, their historical role, the industry that built up around them and the revival years.
Diana Zeuner is the publisher and editor of ‘Heavy Horse World’ magazine, the only publication in the UK devoted to solely to heavy horses. Her interest in heavy horses began with their introduction to the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton in West Sussex, where her late husband, Chris Zeuner, was the Museum Director and hadd introduced working horses to help interpret the historic building exhibits. After his untimely death in 2001 Diana took over the management of the heavy-horse stables at the museum on a part-time basis. Diana is also editor of the magazine for the Association of Independent Museums and the magazine of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museums
Hops and Hop Picking
Price: £7.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 617 6 / Shire Library SLI 542 / 80 pp
Old Poultry Breeds
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 396 6 / Shire Library SLI 35 / 40 pp
Ploughs and Ploughing
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 695 4 / Shire Library SLI 125 / 32 pp
Rare Breeds
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 511 3 / Shire Library SLI 118 / 40 pp
Scottish Agricultural Implements
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 85263 925 2 / Shire Library SLI 218 / 32 pp
The Barn Owl
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 024 8 / Shire Library SLI 525 / 24 pp
This book covers all aspects of the biology of the barn owl: its distribution, habitat, feeding behaviour, breeding, movements and mortality. Special attention is given to the problem of conservation, why the species has declined and what might be done to help it in the future.
The Drovers
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 630 1 / Shire Library SLI 45 / 40 pp
Before vehicular transport, cattle and other animals were required to walk long distances in vast herds supervised by Drovers. This book describes the animals and outlines the routes they followed.
Water and Wind Power
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 418 5 / Shire Library SLI 559 / 136 pp
From Roman times water power was used to grind grain, raise water, and later to work metals, produce cloth and serve a great number of trades and industries. This book is about these first engines: the technology, the rationales and some of the personalities involved.
Working Oxen
Price: £4.99
ISBN: 978 0 74780 415 4 / Shire Library SLI 342 / 32 pp