EVOCATIVE images from Cumbria's rich industrial past - from coppice cutting to Backbarrow's famous "Dolly Blue works" - have been gathered together in an intriguing new book.

Lake District school teacher Mike Davies-Shiel travelled across the county from the 1950s until his death in 2009, always carrying a camera and seeking out the county's industries, past and present.

His legacy is a vast archive of 20,000 slides and negatives that capture a largely lost world. Housed in themed boxes, his images pay tribute to the men and women who worked in often uncomfortable or dangerous conditions.

From Millom miners stained red by haematite iron ore, to blast furnace workers in flat caps with no strong steel toe-capped boots, Mr Davies-Shiel was keen to portray their knowledge and experience.

He was especially fascinated by traditional woodland techniques, such as coppicing, charcoal burning and watermills, and he became the chronicler of Backbarrow Iron Works during its final few years, and of the "Dolly Blue works" 20 years later.

The new hardbook book, Cumbria's Industrial Past, has been published by Cumbria Industrial History Society as a celebration of the photographer's half-century of fieldwork.

Mr Davies-Shiel was a founder member and president of the society, and also taught at Windermere Grammar School and the Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge.

Geoff Brambles, chairman of Cumbria Industrial History Society, said Mr Davies-Shiel was a popular and talented speaker and leader of guided walks, and it was "a great tragedy" when he died.

"He did an enormous amount of research," said Mr Brambles. "He went through every Westmorland Gazette back to the beginning looking for bits of information on industry.

"He spent weeks with parish registers looking for deceased people whose occupations were mentioned, and he spoke to everybody he could find who had actually worked in these industries like bobbin making and Backbarrow Iron Works. He was a great respecter of the skill and experience of these people."

Mr Brambles said the new book helps to "set the story straight" about the Lake District's history. "People think of tourism and Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter but they don't think about the workaday lives of the people who lived in the Lake District, for whom there were long hours and hard work, often dangerous.

"He always wrote down people's names and he developed friendships with them all. It was a hard life and it was important it be recorded."

The new book is on sale at some local bookshops, or visit www.cumbria-industries.org.uk