Living National Treasure

The Oxford don who turned his hand to making English rum: ‘It’s like drinking liquid Christmas pudding’

Ten years ago an Oxbridge scientist turned his considerable brainpower to distilling proper Caribbean rum in the heart of Cambridgeshire. Emma Hughes tells his story.

Meet the Beadles: The centuries-old private police force at Burlington Arcade, the world's swishest shopping mall

This week marked the 200th birthday of London’s Burlington Arcade. Adam Hay-Nicholls goes undercover with the Beadles, its private police force. With photographs by Richard Cannon.

The flower growers of the Scilly Isles: 'There’s a bit of good fortune and a lot of hard work'

The Isles of Scilly have spectacularly good conditions for growing flowers – particularly the daffodils and other narcissi which we're now seeing everywhere.

The bagpipe-maker: 'The older customers want me to make their pipes sharpish; they want to be sure they’re not dead before they get to play them!'

Hours of intricate work are needed to craft a set of bagpipes. Kate Lovell spoke to bagpipe-maker Dave Shaw to find out how it's done.

The willow weaver: 'I like to let the host structure feed the form'

With such romantic names as Dicky Meadows, Flanders Red and Noir de Verlaine, willow is one of Nature’s most versatile materials. Jane Wheatley meet Laura Ellen Bacon, who crafts works of art from twisted stems of Salix.

The Pietra dura maker: 'Everyone else in Florence was looking at the paintings, but I was looking at the pietra-dura floor'

Pietra dura – the art of creating images by cutting stones and fitting them into a jigsaw of shapes – flowered under the Florentine Medicis, but there’s only one man in Britain creating these precious-stone mosaics today: Thomas Greenaway.

Country Life’s best Living National Treasures of 2018: Stained glass to neon signs, via sculpture, baskets and fishermen

Our hugely popular series tells fascinating tales about extraordinary people keeping traditional skills alive across Britain, illustrated by the wonderful portrait photographs taken by Richard Cannon for Country Life. Our picture editor Lucy Ford makes her selection of her favourites of 2018.

The fairy-maker: ‘There are fairies in royal circles, Australia, New York – everywhere'

Dinah Nicholson's meticulously-recorded magical creations range from doppelgangers of real women to the whimsical Gin & Tonic fairy and have been created at home, on the move or even in the queue at the bank.

The ice sculptor: 'People get very uptight about being cold but, if you relax about it, the cold is all right'

Mr Hamilton was a chef working at London's crème de la crème when he discovered a talent that would shape the rest of his life: the all but extinct world of ice sculpting.

The stained-glass maker: 'It's powerful, volatile... too overwhelming for domestic settings'

Thomas Denny is one of the few people left in Britain making stained glass for churches. He spoke to Mary Miers.

The barometer-maker: ‘The oldest one we’ve worked on here was dated 1705 – well before the internet or TV weather forecasts.'

Edward Allen has persevered through the potential banning of barometers and a steady decline in the industry, intent on repairing existing products to the highest possible standard and producing new ones for those who still see the unique beauty in barometers.

The flint knapper: ‘They used to make prisoners do it, but I do it for fun and manage to make a living'

John Lord is one of very few people in Britain who makes a full-time living out of only one stone, in addition to aiding universities and museums with lithic work.

The Miller: 'A Victorian miller could walk in and know exactly what to do'

Not many people in Britain can say that their workplace operates exactly as it did 200 years ago. Karl Grevatt can. He spoke to Tessa Waugh; portraits by Richard Cannon for the Country Life Picture Library.

The poppy maker: ‘I was very weak, very emotional and in a bad place when I started, but I’m back to my old self again now’

Wish Lloyd battled a traumatic childhood, the army, an athletics injury and homelessness to find his place at the Poppy Factory, making the poppies we wear every November.

The gravedigger: Digging graves by hand, putting aside emotions and his hopes for his own final resting place

Alan Munnery has spent the last 20 years working as a gravedigger at one of Europe's biggest cemeteries, which happens to be just outside Woking. He spoke to Tessa Waugh; portraits by Richard Cannon.

The Dorset button-maker: Easy to learn, cheap to source and fun to create

Born in the heartland of Dorset button-making, Jen Best's yarn shop doubles as a classroom where she passes on her knowledge to anyone wanting to produce their own unique creations.

The stone conservationist: 'You can’t beat good old-fashioned hand tools that differ little today from those used centuries ago'

The hill shepherd: ‘I’m not sure where the shepherds of the future will come from’

Graham Oliver is proud of the profession handed to him by his grandfathers but with his children choosing different career paths, he doubts the future of shepherding. Tessa Waugh reports.

The luthier: 'You don’t know if you’ve been successful until you put the strings on. That’s the moment when it comes alive'

Tom Sands brought the lessons he learnt from the California king of guitar-making back to Britain, where he makes stunning, personalised instruments for his clients. Tessa Waugh reports, photographs by Richard Cannon.

The wine merchant: ‘We supplied George III’s Coronation and have been official supplier to every reigning monarch since’

Buying director Giles Burke-Gaffney discusses the history of Justerini & Brooks, as well as their exciting plans for the future of the wine industry. Photographs by Richard Cannon.