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On The Roof: A Thatcher’s Journey
£18.95
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The reed goes on, the reed comes off. The reed rots and returns to the earth. The houses we work on outlast us. The thatch we use has never stood still. On The Roof is a thatcher’s tale – a journey of discovery, and a reflection on what it means for a person or a building to belong in a place. It tells Tom Allan’s story, leaving an office job in the city to find fulfilment among the Devon roofs, as well as the stories of six other people who share his trade. We meet the Hebridean son of a lobster fisherman who thatches with a dune-growing grass, a Syrian refugee who found peace among the seagrass roofs of a Danish island, and one of the first women to become master of Japan’s 5,000-year-old craft of thatching. Thatching is an ancient, living tradition. To be a thatcher is to belong to a craft almost endless in its reach – at once one of the oldest ways of giving shelter, a way of working close to the land, and a deep immersion in the rhythms of a place on the most local scale possible: a village, a valley, an island. But the craft isn’t frozen in time. Thatched roofs exist in a constant state of repair, renewal and alteration, and the trade is poised at a moment of profound change both in the way people thatch, and the plants they use to thatch with. As Allan reveals, the story of thatching is the story of our relationship with the land, and how we have chosen to treat it.
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On The Roof is a thoughtful appreciation of a British craft .. [an] excellent, beautifully written book -- Patrick Galbraith * Sunday Times * A rich and hugely enjoyable celebration of the local, the vernacular and traditional ... a beautifully written craftsman's memoir -- Christopher Hart * Daily Mail * This well written blend of travelogue and paean to an ancient craft is beguiling -- Kate Green * Country Life * One of those books that gives you insight into a subject you didn't know you wanted to know about ... still you find yourself just so appreciative of this undying craft and the author's passion for it -- Nic Bottomley * Bath Life * [Allan's] adventure, structured as neatly as the thatching he describes, is both a love letter to an ancient craft and an exultant ode to living your truest life .... what more tangible legacy could there be than placing a roof over one's head? * World of Interiors * The fascinating story of how craft, community and nature combine to keep the roofs over our heads -- Kate Humble, author and broadcaster Tom Allan writes easily and appealingly, making his Thatcher's Journey one of discovery and delight. The gently described practicalities of the craft had me entranced -- John Wright, author * The Forager's Calendar * Hugely enjoyable - Tom Allan is a real craftsman, knowledgeable, curious and a superb storyteller -- Jasper Winn, author * Waterways * A beautifully-crafted, highly-original, spirit-lifting, hands-on adventure -- Nicholas Crane, author * The Making of the British Landscape *
Author Biography
Tom Allan has worked as a thatcher in South Devon since 2012. Before this he planted hedges in the Scottish Borders and worked for a London publishing house. He writes about the natural world for the Guardian's Country Diary column, and has written on travel and the environment for the Financial Times, Guardian, the Earth Island Journal, British Wildlife Magazine, and others.Related products
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