> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: James Fox > Reference:: Fox, J. (2025). _Craftland_. Random House. > Date:: 2025 > Tags:: #warp/book #UK/England > WeftLinks:: [[Cultural value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft strengthens relationships between members of a cultural group]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > They are most sustainable and connect us to our ancestors. ### Highlights > Traditional crafts matter. They are part of who we are and where we come from. They connect us to our ancestors and our local communities, weaving past with present, forging collective identities, shaping our immediate surroundings. Long after their deaths, Britain's craftspeople continue to leave a mark on our world. Head out to your local high street and you will see their work everywhere. It lives on in the flagstones beneath our feet and the signs above our heads; in the tolling bells of the church tower and the tick of the town hall clock. These forgotten people even crafted our countryside, creating the field walls and hedgerows we all now know and love. The United Kingdom has written its autobiography in craft, and so it is through craft by which we might best understand it. > Traditional crafts are far more sustainable than most manufacturing processes. Their practitioners work with renewable organic materials and low-carbon local supply chains, creating products that tend to be kept and cherished rather than thrown away after a few disappointing uses. Some might even offer pathways to environmental amelioration: potters and basket-weavers are already supplying viable alternatives to polluting plastics.