Books in the Shire album series

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.

Traces and illustrates the history of English spoons, and gives collectors some guidelines to follow. This second edition has an expanded section on the British Arts and Crafts Movement, examining its contribution to European design at the turn of the nineteenth century, and showing how this influence was revisited on British design.

For centuries man has used the stick for many purposes, both decorative and practical. Later it became a symbol of authority, carried by tribal chiefs, army officers and policemen, and a costume accessory, an appendage of the swaggering dandy. This book examines the two main groups of walking sticks and canes: gadget sticks and decorative ones.

Contains Ancient history: the prologue; The golden age of motoring; The post-war years: changing times, change, and change again: the arrival of computers; Modern times: a fresh start; Collectors' gold; Islands and Ireland; Curiosities and eccentricities, auctions and anomalies; and further reading.

Covers the history, development, use and fall from favour of many types of exotic instruments, from pocket-sized musical boxes to roll-playing pipe organs and everything else in between. This book describes pianolas, organettes, roller organs, orchestrions, nickelodeons, carillons and more.

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.

Introduces the insignia worn by members of British Orders of Knighthood and Chivalry. These Orders have existed since the early Middle Ages and were initially intended to unite important noblemen in bonds of loyalty to their monarch or to act as impressive rewards for their services.

A general introduction to the vast and complex subject of glass, not only the history and technology of glassmaking but also the social background of the lives of the glassmakers.