These villages were once worlds of their own. Now they are the spaces on the map between more major conurbations. Yet the detail remains-the harmony that comes from knowable communities is still to be found here.

The thread of human continuity is still here to be grasped. Modern life, in its pursuit of the fast and the wide, has not robbed us of it but moved it to the edge of vision, where it is only fleetingly if wistfully viewed. Drawing on a comprehensive range of contemporary images, Catherine Rothwell puts the villages, their heritage and their contribution to our centuries-old way of life back into perspective.

In so doing, she pays tribute to a passing parade of families and individuals whose legacy might be one of the most valuable things we still possess.