Dorothy Hartley was born in the 1890's and spent most of her long life traveling the country and writing about old craft skills, country ways, old recipes and such like.
There are many books of that type and most are pretty much like modern day local journalism, it is clear the writer stayed long enough to get the basics of a story and was gone inside the hour. Dorothy Hartley was very different and it comes through in her remarkable books.
When writing about coppice workers she would stay in the coppice for a couple of days to get a full picture of the work. She did her own lovely drawings and got a deep understanding of the different crafts. She was paid £8 a week which did not pay for B&Bs so she "never bothered much with camping equipment" and "when I say in the book I cooked over an open fire, it's true I did." She used to sleep in the hedge. "One can make a fire and boil a billy of water within 20 minutes, I could do it on a wet Irish bog if I had to." Twigs and logs were "so much more convenient" than messing about with stoves.
Her descriptions of lobster pots come from deep understanding having been out overnight on the boats and seeing them working, everywhere in the books you can almost feel the textures in her descriptions and there is always a deep reverence for the knowledge and skill of the old countryfolk. I really wonder what they made of her, an educated woman mixing with gypsies, labourers and craftsfolk and sleeping in the woods in the 1930's, remarkable.
I have just finished "made in England" and today "the Countrymans england" and "the ladn of England" arrived in the post. Her "food in England " is also on order and is meant to be a classic study of old country recipes.
Any other fans out there?
http://www.btinternet.com/~billevans/hrtly/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/arts/dorothy_hartley.shtml
There are many books of that type and most are pretty much like modern day local journalism, it is clear the writer stayed long enough to get the basics of a story and was gone inside the hour. Dorothy Hartley was very different and it comes through in her remarkable books.
When writing about coppice workers she would stay in the coppice for a couple of days to get a full picture of the work. She did her own lovely drawings and got a deep understanding of the different crafts. She was paid £8 a week which did not pay for B&Bs so she "never bothered much with camping equipment" and "when I say in the book I cooked over an open fire, it's true I did." She used to sleep in the hedge. "One can make a fire and boil a billy of water within 20 minutes, I could do it on a wet Irish bog if I had to." Twigs and logs were "so much more convenient" than messing about with stoves.
Her descriptions of lobster pots come from deep understanding having been out overnight on the boats and seeing them working, everywhere in the books you can almost feel the textures in her descriptions and there is always a deep reverence for the knowledge and skill of the old countryfolk. I really wonder what they made of her, an educated woman mixing with gypsies, labourers and craftsfolk and sleeping in the woods in the 1930's, remarkable.
I have just finished "made in England" and today "the Countrymans england" and "the ladn of England" arrived in the post. Her "food in England " is also on order and is meant to be a classic study of old country recipes.
Any other fans out there?
http://www.btinternet.com/~billevans/hrtly/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/arts/dorothy_hartley.shtml
