I recently came across this book by Norman Smedly: Life and Tradition in SUFFOLK and NORTH-EAST ESSEX. It was published in 1976.
Norman Smedley was an archaeologist and museum director, notably of the Abbotts Hall Museum aka Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, Suffolk (now the Food Museum). He established a large collection of farm implements and was particularly interested in Suffolk's rural heritage.
In this book a range of rural crafts and practices are detailed with reference to the tools that were used. Farming practices in pre-mechanisation days are described as well as the work of the farrier, cooper, thatcher, saddler, cobbler, brick maker, basket maker, flint knapper, wheelwright, a number domestic tasks, and many more. The chapter on buildings and building materials was very interesting given the absence of stone sources in Suffolk. Written in the 1970s it was possible to interview and, in many instances, often observe prractitoners of these trades at work.
Here are a few photos copied from the book.
Mechanisation, mass production, socio-economc imperatives and convenience have overtaken many of these skills but some still exist. Now they are often specialist service providers rather than being an essential presence in virtually every village.
That sounds like an interesting book. One half of my mother's Suffolk ancestors were from a village near Ipswich, the other side came from Woodbridge. There was one ancestor who died while digging a well (his occupation).
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