The Countryman - Cottage Life Book

Readers Union, 1975. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. h/b 199 pages, condition is very good. Country cottages today are often the homes of people not actively involved in local affairs. But what was life like for the cottagers who belonged to the villages, who were they, what were the cottages themselves like to live in? These articles, selected from the pages of The Countryman magazine, look closely at the cottage characters, at the hard work, enjoyments, poverty, customs and good humour of traditional cottage life. The authors are people who have been closely involved with their own villages and see them from the inside. The cottages themselves can reveal much of Britain's rural life. Their firesides have been the focal point for the country people through the centuries; these people owned relatively few possessions, but cherished and used intensively the little they had and prized a limited independence. The men worked long hours on the land, the women worked hard at making and mending, cleaning and caring, fruit and vegetable growing or local crafts, and all the tasks of a largely self-supporting economy. They made their own amusements, and their strong characters came out at the village social activities, such as flower shows and weddings, or in the pub. For anyone who enjoys returning to the roots of rural England, here is a charming but realistic picture - of a way of life that has not yet totally vanished.