Dorothy Hartley (1893
- 1985) is an author revered by enthusiasts for old English food & cookery & English country life. Her many books on these subjects often illustrated with her own drawings are collectors items. Her greatest book Food in England has remained in print since its first appearance in 1954. During 1933
- 1936 she was commissioned by the Daily Sketch newspaper to write articles describing the English countryside old English crafts & customs country foods & country ways (with the odd excursion to Wales Scotland & Ireand). She did her research in the British Museum (she had by then written several books of social history) & on the ground travelling around the country on her sturdy bicycle staying with her subjects or under hedges. These articles were to form her knowledge-bank which she used in several books that came out during the 1930s & beyond (particularly Heres England 1935) but they have never been seen as they were first written. We offer a selection with a foreword by Lucy Worsley (who is presenting the BBC TV documentary on Hartley to be transmitted this autumn) & introduced by the writer Adrian Bailey (who befriended Dorothy Hartley in her later life). The 60 articles are illustrated with some of Hartleys own snapshots which she kept as notes for future reference. The subjects range widely on matters as various as thatching clog-making eels the country chemist marram grass sand shoes crabs sheep shearing spring-cleaning country kitchens ploughing weather lore & elevenses. It will be classic.