Last of the English Coopers?

England's last remaining master cooper Alastair Simms has predicted that the nation's barrel-making trade will go to the grave with him.

Mr Simms, 45, began working as an apprentice cooper on his sixteenth birthday and finally attained the rank of master in 1994.

When he joined the trade there were thousands of barrel makers across England practising a craft that dates back to Roman times.

But timber shortages and the emergence of modern metal casks has seen the number of master coopers dwindle until he is now the only one left.

It should be noted that Simms is a cooper of beer barrels; no mention is made of coopers who make whisky barrels, in Scotland for instance.