Alastair Simms is the toast of wine producers Paul and Lynn Langham after he used his unique skills to create a stunning series of traditional oak barrels for their made-in-Wiltshire red.

Incredibly, 45-year-old Mr Simms, who fashions superb wooden casks from his workshop at Wadworth Brewery in Devizes, is now Britain's only remaining master cooper.

During the first half of the 20th century there were about 600 traditional-style coopers at work in Britain's brewery industry, bending and hammering out sturdy oak barrels for countless pints.

But timber shortages and the advent of modern metal casks have all but consigned to the 21st century scrapheap a craft that dates back to the times of the Romans.

At the start of this millennium there were less than a dozen master coopers still working in Britain. Their numbers, largely through retirement, have now shrunk to one.

At the traditional riverside brewery which is famous for its 6X ale, Mr Simms said yesterday: "I don't really know why I'm the only one left. It's one of those trades that has slowly died out over the years. Today's beer barrels are made from stainless steel or aluminum. But for me, casks made from English oak are far better. In a wooden cask the temperature of the beer remains the same once it's on the dray (the delivery wagon).

"But the temperature of beer in a metal cask changes after a couple of hours. We are the only commercial cooperage in the country now. We make oak casks for anyone who still requires them."

It was with some delight that Mr Simms accepted an order for seven casks from the Langhams, who run a'Beckett's vineyard at in Littleton Panell five miles away.

The couple would normally order special wooden casks from France in which their vintage reds could mature.

But they asked Mr Simms to create wine instead of beer barrels, to reduce their carbon footprint and utilise the master skills and knowledge of a local man and a Wiltshire business.

The craftsman acquired a special consignment of French oak – normally used to make furniture – from a dealer in Leicestershire. Mr Simms, who began his apprenticeship on his 16th birthday – May 10, 1979 – said: "Most of the work that is done at the brewery is the repair and refashioning of old casks, rather than creation of new ones. This project gave the opportunity to bend a barrel from unblemished wood, thereby evoking many memories of when the craft was in its prime."

The wine casks have been made slightly thicker than standard wooden beer barrels to increase the sustainability of the vintage red. Mr Simms said: "It would be fantastic if, because of this, other producers were inspired to use barrels made locally, or where keen to experiment with the strong oak flavours that the new wood can impart."

Mrs Langham, who has been running one of just a handful of vineyards in Wiltshire for seven years, said they were delighted to have placed an order with Mr Simms and Wadworth. She said: "It's incredible, really, when you think that there is now just one person who could have made these barrels for us in England – and he's just a few miles down the road (in Wiltshire)."