Much interest surrounds the story of woodland crafts and the men who worked amongst the trees making the domestic and agricultural implements that were once familiar to all but have now disappeared almost as completely as the dedicated craftsmen themselves. All over Britain there were centres for rake makers, bowl turners and chairmakers, while in the Midlands the clogger played an essential part in industrial life. The tools they used were, in general, common to all the woodland crafts, but each trade had some kind of break or horse or special cutting tool that was designed for a particular task and was peculiar to that craft. It is fortunate that over the years a number of writers have photographed and made detailed reports on these craftsmen and their products, and that several museums such as the Salaman Collection at St. Alban's and the Museum of English Rural Life at Reading founded collections of the tools before they completely disappeared. These documents and artefacts are now of the greatest social importance, for the woodland crafts, with their economical use of natural materials, provided an unlimited supply of essential objects for use in village life long before such objects were mass-produced.