“i feel a real connection to what is a dying craft”

From a milliner inspired by topiary to a model-turned-ecological gardener and a couple who swapped jobs in telecommunications for growing vegetables, Sir David Beckham’s rural heroes tell Julie Harding why craft and the countryside are key

Fred de Fossard

I’ve always loved handmade things. Whenever you encounter a hand-crafted object, whether it’s an antique watch or a stoneware mug, you are meeting something that is by definition unique. That’s becaus

Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers: From an early age, I have always loved reading and writing. My best subject at school was English to the detriment of maths, and I managed to become top

PAULA KERR slipped in through the back door of her granny’s house, trying not to make a sound. She could smell the dough and knew her granny did not like to be disturbed while she was mixing dough for

THE church was built in 1860, on a hill in the centre of town. It was a thriving centre for worship for many decades. Now it’s the nursery my youngest grandson goes to. The house and garden next to th