The Shell Guides are a series of county guidebooks for Great Britain that were commissioned by Shell at a time of increasing private car ownership in the late 1930s.
They were edited by John Betjeman and John Piper and encompass work by some of the best known pastoral artists and writers of the mid-20th century including John and Paul Nash, W.G. Hoskins, James Lee-Milne and Norman Scarfe.
A full exploration of their rise and fall can be found on The Richmond Library Blog: The Shell Guides: a short history
In this post, I want to share the delight of end pages. The Shell Guides make good use of the pages inside their hardback covers with photos and artworks which capture the spirit of place in their namesake county.
Norfolk
Suffolk
Essex
Dorset
Scroby Elbow 