Angel   Apple Seller   Bal Maiden   Boat Wrecker   Cornish Lady   Cream Maiden   Dairy Maid   Dolly Pentreath   Dressed Baby   Fanny Wheeler   Father Christmas   Ferry Boat Man   Fisherman   Flower Seller   Huntsman   Jenny Johns   Letter Carrier   Lily Langtry   Little Jane Squibb   Mary Kelynack   Morris Dancer   Nationality Dolls   Nursery Rhyme Dolls   Pasty Seller   Pig Farmer   Pirate Captain   Pixie   Regency Lady   Roman Water Carrier   Royal Dolls   Sailor   Shark Fisherman   Smuggler   Sophie Dawes   Strawberry Picker   Tin Miner   Town Crier   Unknown   Violet Picker   William Cookworthy   Wine Seller   Wood Heaver	History    The three ladies responsible for these unique dolls were Peggy Pryce, Joan Rickarby and Muriel Fogarty. They met during the war working for Civil Defence in London, after the war ended the friends bought a cottage together in Hampstead.    It was by chance that they came across Shallowpool in Cornwall and decided to exchange the fast pace of life in London for a more tranquil life in Cornwall. Muriel Fogarty knew Cornwall well, she had attended school at Newquay when she was nine years old and had been enchanted by this part of the country ever since. The ladies often escaped the hustle and bustle of London by visiting Cornwall and on one of these visits came across Shallowpool the place that two of the ladies would choose to spend the rest of their lives.    Rowing up the West Looe river the ladies first set eyes on Shallowpool tucked away amongst the trees, with the winding river and little pixie bridge at the end of the garden, they knew immediately that this is were they wanted to be. At this time the property was owned by a doctor who had no plans to sell, it reminded him of Borneo with its winding river and over hanging trees, where he had spent most of his working life.    Some time later, to the ladies great surprise and delight, he agreed to sell. The trio determined to succeed needed to make a living and came up with the idea of making useful things, rugs, ties and lampshades, they made many items for Daphne Du Maurier’s home Ferryside on the bank of the Fowey river. They traded as “Shallowpool Handicrafts” but for many years only scraped a living, it was in the mid 1950’s that they decided to make souvenir dolls, perhaps influenced by the success of Peggy Nisbet dolls made in Weston Super Mare, around this time.    Joan Rickarby a former art teacher and illustrator designed and modelled the small heads and hands. Peggy Pryce formally a hairdresser, was responsible for the dolls wigs, originally she used human hair, but found it too difficult on the miniature heads, so then she replaced it with nylon. Some of the intricate wigs took hours to create, she used moustache curlers and eyebrow tweezers to style the wigs, they were the only things small enough. She was also responsible for all the dressing of the dolls, she was an accomplished needlewoman and spent hours looking for the right materials with small enough patterns to be in the right scale and even vintage material for the Royal range. Muriel Fogarty formerly a journalist made the casts and assembled all of the figures made the small baskets and other accessories and also handled the business side of things.    Shallowpool consisted of three small cottages the ladies rented two to supplement their income, two families from London who were also enchanted by Shallowpool spent thirty years taking holidays here and now live permanently in two of the properties. I was invited to visit earlier this year by the new owners and understood how the ladies must have felt when they first set eyes on Shallowpool.    Sometime in the late 70’s Peggy who was the only one of the trio to marry left Shallowpool Handicrafts. Joan and Muriel carried on with the business until the late 80’s. An article in the Lady Magazine in August 1985 quoted Muriel Fogarty as saying “We are both over 70 now, we shan’t be able to go on for many more years. And when we give it up that will be the end-we shan’t sell. We created Shallowpool Handicrafts, and set our standards, and we shall not pass it on.”