The Shell Guide to Curious Britain, published in 1982 by David and Charles was written by Anthony Burton and sponsored by Shell Oil. It is a heartwarming collection of the weird and wonderful which Britain has long been so good at, from follies to mazes, stone circles to mysterious objects and old traditions.

The Shell Guide series which ran through the sixties and seventies are amongst my favourite books, combining monochrome and colour photographs as well as beautiful illustrations they remain both a wonderful reminder of British life in the twentieth century and a benchmark for progression or lack of it today.

There is a very interesting chapter on the history of follies, those whimsical buildings created by flamboyant rich landowners and builders. The follie above was designed by George Messiter and erected in Berwick Park for no other reason than Messiter wanted a tower and it would provide work for the local unemployed.

Mad Jack Fuller, a huge man physically and metaphorically was regarded as the king of the follies and the author details a wonderful account of his remarkable zest for life and building follies which, at face value have no discernible value or use but upon closer inspection there was usually a hidden logic behind them.

Gardens in the Victorian era often championed the weird and the wonderful of British culture and design. From complex mazes and labyrinths to topiary and buildings from far-off lands, those with the financial means revelled in outdoing their peers. The author makes an interesting observation about the origins of mazes and that they were intended to be more than a means of garden party amusement. These were designed to illustrate the complexities of life and its journey from birth at the start to apparent paradise in the middle with each wrong turn representing a sin leading you away from your ultimate goal.

This guide takes the reader through centuries of British history, culture and tradition, and whilst some traditions are still kept alive today we have also lost too many of them as well as that sense of fun which created the follies and mazes and the morris dancing.

The Shell Guides are still readily available secondhand and at reasonable prices, they rarely disappoint.

See also The Shell Book of Country Crafts