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There are few pieces of pottery more recognisable than those designed by Clarice Cliff. Employed in The Potteries from the age of thirteen, Clarice was talented and resourceful, and in 1927 she was given her own studio at the Newport Pottery. Using colour illustrations, this title traces the story of Clarice Cliff and the pottery that she created.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, the microcar posed a challenge to the large companies that mass-produced cars to uniform designs. The microcar was the opposite, produced by small entrepreneurial start-ups using quirkydesign concepts that offered motorists cheaper and more economical vehicles. This book is a beautifully illustrated history of the British microcar, from the early days of Bond and Reliant to the proliferation of micro marques during the 1950s and their demise during the 1960s. It explores many eccentric British concepts, comparing the cars to their influential European competitors, examining the social and economic reasons for the decline and disappearance of the microcar, but also saluting the signs of a microcar renaissance in the twenty-first century, this time from mainstream manufacturers.

Almost eighty years after her death, Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) is still one of the most influential of all English garden designers. Best known for the superb use of colour schemes in her hallmark flower borders, she combined an early training in art with self-taught horticultural skills. Early influences included William Morris, John Ruskin and William Robinson, but it is her partnership with the architect Edwin Lutyens that produced some of the most distinctive of Edwardian houses and gardens. From her house (and nursery) at Munstead Wood, Surrey, Jekyll designed over 400 gardens across Britain and Europe, and some in America where her archive of designs and drawings is now held. This book explores her life, influences on her early work in art and crafts, the transfer to Munstead Wood and working relationship with Edwin Lutyens, as well as her own writings and achievements.

Corgi Toys proved an immediate success in the 1950s and over the next 30 years hundreds of miniatures would be modelled on contemporary vehicles. This book explores the history of Corgi Toys, describing the various models and illustrating how these simple children's toys became valuable collectables.

In churches and cathedrals across Britain, tucked away among ordinary items such as pews, screens and pulpits, sit a plethora of fascinating and unexpected objects. From dragon-slaying spears and the ribs of monstrous cows, to pagan altars, reindeer horns and mummified skulls, these curiosities have intrigued generations of visitors. In this captivating history, David Castleton explores this fascinating world of lepers' squints, pancake bells, virgin garlands and sanctuary knockers, and unravels the tales, legends and folkloric ceremonies that lay behind these charming and often deeply unusual artefacts.

Perhaps more so than any other decade, the sixties had the broadest impact on the twentieth-century Western world. Across society, culture and the arts, youth voices rose to prominence and had a significant influence on new trends. Mature polished elegance was replaced by young liveliness as the fashionable ideal. Although only the most daring young followers of fashion wore the tiny miniskirts and borderline-unwearable plastic and metal outfits publicised in the press, stylish and smart fashion was increasingly available to all, with an emphasis on self-expression. New style icons such as Twiggy combined girl-next-door looks with trendy, aspirational and accessible outfits, and popular culture heavily influenced mainstream fashion. This beautifully illustrated book offers a concise guide to changing styles across the decade.

Vespa and Lambretta remain the two most iconic motor scooter brands, even four decades after the latter's demise. But what made them such a European sensation in the postwar era? And why were they particularly popular in Britain in the 1950s and '60s? Motor scooter expert Stuart Owen explains the rise of Innocenti's Lambretta and Piaggio's Vespa, from the wartime ruins of Italy, through years of plenty as the two manufacturers exploited a ready market for affordable, economic transport, and then their decline into more uncertain times as motor cars trespassed on their success. He also explores the rich history of accessorizing and customizing the scooters, their essential role in the mod movement, and the revival in Vespa's fortunes following the release of the cult film Quadrophenia.

The 1970s was a decade of style contrasts. More so than in any other decade, every extreme of fashion was met by an equally trendy opposite reaction. Ankle-length maxi skirts vied for attention with super-short hot-pants. Outfits in vibrant prints and obviously man-made fabrics contrasted with subtly-colored ensembles in wool jerseys and silky crepes. Delicate floral cottons, hand-knits, and hand-tooled leather came up against boldly synthetic and plastic looks perched atop platform shoes--for men and women alike. More so than at any other time, fashion looked backwards in order to dress the future, with quirkily ironic retro looks, while alternative street-style movements such as Punk used appearance to startle and challenge the establishment.

More complex and imposing than any other vehicle in the British emergency services, the fire engine has a long and interesting history. The earliest water pumps had been developed by the eighteenth century - basic manual pumps that had to be hauled around by people or horses, and were often only used on fire-insured premises. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engines, and eventually motorised fire engines, came to revolutionise firefighting, offering far greater versatility and the brigades came to be run by the municipalities. In this beautifully illustrated introduction, Eddie Baker charts the history of fire engines and their variants, and the increasingly complex equipment they have carried, such as high-rise ladders and high-pressure hoses. He also explains the wider history of the fire service and how the engines have been shaped by its needs and, most importantly, those of the firefighters themselves.

In the Middle Ages, it was thought that praying at the right shrine could save you from just about anything, from madness and famine to false imprisonment and even shipwreck. Kingdoms, cities, and even individual trades had patron saints that would protect them from misfortune and bring them wealth and prosperity, and their feast days were celebrated with public holidays and pageants. With saints believed to have the ear of God, veneration of figures such as St Thomas Becket, St Cuthbert, and St Margaret brought tens of thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life to sites across the country. Saints, Shrines and Pilgrims takes the reader across Britain, providing a map of the most important religious shrines that pilgrims would travel vast distances to reach, as well as descriptions and images of the shrines themselves. Featuring over 100 stunning photographs and a gazetteer of places to visit, it explains the history of pilgrimage in Britain and the importance that it played in medieval life, and describes the impact of the unbridled assault made on pilgrimage by the Reformation.

Packed with colour illustrations and photographs, this title traces golf's evolution from preserve of the privileged few to aspirational pursuit of the masses, taking in the game's Victorian and Edwardian popularity and the rise of the professional sport in the twentieth century.

Developments in microelectronics in the early 1970s meant that computers at home seemed about to become commonplace. This title tells about the story of first commonplace home computers - the Sinclairs, Commodores, Amstrads, and the earliest versions of Microsoft Windows - that helped to make the computer an indispensable item in the British home.

It has been over a century since Frank Hornby invented a toy to amuse his sons and called it Meccano, coining a word which has entered the dictionary as a term in common usage and is now known all over the world. Hornby's vision of an educational toy became the basis of perhaps the most successful British toy business of the twentieth century.

From workaday marigolds to hand-wear custom crafted for the Queen, gloves perform many functions - insulation from the cold, protection from injury, and even ceremonial roles. This book tells the story of the closely guarded privileges of the glove-makers' guilds.

Hollyhocks and cabbages, roses and runner beans: the English cottage garden combines beauty and utility, pride and productivity. Gardens did not just appeal to the senses, however: they played a philosophical and moral role in society, and thus in our social history.

Offers a survey of the different kinds of toy steam engines of the stationary type, and especially those produced during the heyday of steam toys between 1900 and 1930. This book explains how the engines work, gives advice about operating and maintaining them, and contains useful information about identifying and dating vintage models.

Well over half a century after it first appeared in 1948, the Morris Minor has become a much-loved classic car. This book traces the evolution of the Minor through the different phases of its development to its demise in the 1970s.

For over a century, no surviving marque so accurately charted the triumphs and tribulations of the British motor-manufacturing industry as Rover. This book traces the history of the company, starting with the cycle-making precursors of the Rover Company Limited.

With 16.5 million built between 1908 and 1927, the Model T Ford was, until overtaken in the 1970s by the Volkswagen Beetle, the most popular car in automotive history. Illustrated with photographs from the Ford archives, this album charts the model's 19 year evolution and explains how this quirky, ingenious motor car put the world on wheels.

An illustrated historical tour of London's 13 great railway termini, on a clockwise circuit from Paddington to Victoria.London's railway termini are among the most recognisable and familiar landmarks in the city. Famed for their bustling platforms and architectural innovation, they comprise a fascinating mixture of Neo-Gothic exuberance and purposeful modernity. Though each owes its existence to a long-extinct Victorian railway company, these stations continue to be central to London life, with millions of visitors passing through every year. This historical whistlestop tour takes you on a circuit of London's thirteen great railway termini, from Paddington, through King's Cross, to Victoria. Ranging from the earliest stations to the latest restorations and ongoing developments, this beautifully illustrated book examines both their legacy and their future.

An illustrated introduction to how British industries, supported by thousands of newly recruited women, strove to meet the nation's wartime need for munitions, armour, shipping, uniforms and aircraft.During the Second World War (1939-45), Britain stretched every sinew of its industrial might to fend off a Nazi invasion. As the nation stood alone against Fortress Europe, it harnessed, coordinated and maximised its resources, firstly to defend itself and then to help liberate Axis-occupied countries. Wartime Industry uses informative text and beautiful illustrations to show how the men and women of Britain met this unprecedented demand for military and home-front materials. It explores the work of Lord Beaverbrook's highly organised Ministry of Aircraft Production; the 'Shadow Factories' that enabled manufacturers such as Vauxhall and Rootes to make tanks and aircraft; the Royal Ordnance Factories that produced firearms and explosives; the 'Bevin Boys' conscripted to work in the coal mines; the Women's Timber Corps; and war workers - who, together, helped the nation to make it.

An introduction to the raucous yet educational 'gap year' tours of Europe taken by wealthy British aristocrats in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.For many young eighteenth-century aristocrats, the Grand Tour was an essential rite of passage. Spending many months travelling established routes through France and Italy, they would visit the great cultural sites of western Europe - from Paris, through to Venice, Florence and Rome - ostensibly absorbing art, architecture and culture. Yet all too often, it was a gateway to gambling and debauchery. In this beautifully illustrated guide, Mike Rendell shows how the tour reached its zenith, examining the young tourists' activities and how they acquired 'polish' and an appreciation for fashion, opera and classical antiquity. He also explores their passion for souvenirs and art collecting, and how these items made their way back to grand country houses, which were themselves often modelled to the rules of classical European architecture.

An essential introduction to the surprisingly long history of the electric car, from the early pioneers, through to the first commercially viable models such as Tesla.The electric car now stands center-stage in the motoring industry as we seek to reverse climate change by eradicating petrol and diesel cars. Yet, battery powered vehicles date back nearly 200 years and predate the development of the internal combustion engine by several decades. In the early Edwardian era electric cars were a strong contender to become the dominant form of transport, but their range and speed were limited and petrol-fueled cars rapidly eclipsed them. However, since the 1970s there has been an effort to revive the electric car market, and with the recent arrival of the Nissan Leaf and subsequent models in development, the electric car is at last set to take the lead.This beautifully illustrated introduction traces the history of the electric car from the early nineteenth century up to the burgeoning market of the early twenty-first century.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the world of Victorian stained glass and its manufacturers and designers.The glorious architecture of Victorian Britain gained much of its luster from the colorful stained glass which embellished the windows of cathedrals, churches and country houses. Inspired by the designs of medieval artisans, leading designers such as A.W.N. Pugin and William Morris used innovative techniques to produce colored and painted glass that complemented the architectural opulence of the Gothic Revival. These decorative artworks record contemporary beliefs and morals, indicative of the mind set of those who commissioned and executed them. Such was the impact of these new stained-glass patterns that companies mass produced cheaper imitations which were fitted in the doors and windows of offices, public buildings and thousands of middle-class terraced homes.This beautiful book introduces the reader to many wonderful examples of Victorian stained glass and where it can be found. It outlines the development of the craft, the leading designers and manufacturers, how the windows were made and the details which can help identify the date and style of a piece.

Using beautiful illustrations, this new book explores the life and work of Thomas Chippendale, the most famous furniture designer and manufacturer of the eighteenth century.For at least 150 years, Thomas Chippendale has been synonymous with beautifully made eighteenth-century furniture in a variety of styles ΓÇô Rococo, Chinese, Gothic, and Neoclassical. Born in Otley, Yorkshire, in 1718, Chippendale rose to fame because of his revolutionary design book, The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker''s Director, published in 1754. That same year he set up his famous workshops in St Martin''s Lane, creating some of the most magnificent furniture ever made in Britain. This beautifully illustrated history focuses on Britain''s most famous furniture maker and designer, including the worldwide phenomenon ''Chippendale style'' that became popular in Europe, North America, and Asia after his death in 1779. Today, his influence lives on with the ongoing production of ''Chippendale'' furniture, while the eighteenth-century originals are selling for millions at auction.

A beautifully illustrated introduction to the seventeenth-to-nineteenth-century mania for all things Chinese, from blue-and-white china tea sets to entire suites of Chinese-inspired rooms, including parts of the sumptuous Brighton Pavilion.Chinoiserie is the taste for Chinese-inspired designs that were fashionable in Europe from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. British and other European designers adapted the visual culture of the Far East, reinterpreting what they perceived to be a mysterious, faraway place with little attempt at authenticity, creating a fantasy world of exotic birds, dragons, men in Chinese dress, and buildings with roofs with upturned eaves inspired by Chinese temples. Chinoiserie was produced in various forms -- in interior design (especially the fashionable ''Chinese rooms'' with their wallpaper and lacquered furniture), in tea sets when tea drinking was in vogue, and in the pagodas and pavilions of eighteenth-century gardens.Chinoiserie provides a beautifully illustrated introduction to this fascinating style of decorative art and explains how it evolved from direct contact between Western Europe and the Far East.