A pair of secateurs worth sharpening
The sort you buy once, look after and eventually become irrationally annoyed when somebody else uses.
Why these made the edit →
Wellies & Wax Jackets
Things worth owning · No. 01
The W&W Edit.
Useful things, beautiful things and things that have earned their place. No endless shopping lists. No pretending everything is essential.
THE RULE
We'd rather recommend one good thing than give you twenty-seven almost identical things to choose from.
What actually makes a good pair of wellies?
Forget the logo for a minute. Fit, grip, rubber, lining, repairability and whether they'll still be comfortable three miles from the car matter rather more.
Read the W&W guide →
The deeply unglamorous boot scraper
Not exciting. Not fashionable. Extremely useful for about eight months of the British year.
See what we'd buy →
EDITOR'S NOTE
If the cheap one works perfectly well, we'll tell you that too.
THE BUYING QUESTION
When is it actually
worth paying more?
Some expensive things really are better. Some are merely expensive. We want to know which is which.
CASE STUDY / 001
WAX JACKETS
£60, £200 or £400:
what are you actually getting?
Better cloth? British manufacture? Repairability? A famous label? Or simply nicer marketing? We break down where the money goes and which differences you'll notice after five winters rather than five minutes in a shop.
See where we'd spend the money →
£
Budget
What matters
££
Sweet spot
Where we'd look first
£££
Investment
When it's justified
THE INDEPENDENT EDIT
Made
here.
The British makers, workshops and small businesses producing things we'd rather buy once and keep.
MAKER / 001
Who still makes things to last in Britain?
Behind industrial estates, down farm tracks and inside workshops most of us will never notice, people are still forging, stitching, turning and building things properly.
Meet Britain's makers →Why would anyone still make a boot scraper by hand?
Because some very ordinary objects become remarkably good when somebody bothers to make them properly.
Read →What happened to all the British wool?
We produce millions of kilos of it. So why can a fleece sometimes be worth less than the cost of shearing the sheep?
Find out →Could you make a living as a traditional craftsperson today?
The crafts survived. The harder question is whether the people practising them can afford to.
Meet them →