No. 3 from the forge – Running out of witty titles

Blog by Richard Pace, Blacksmith. More info on Blacksmithing courses at our forge here.

Well I hope you have had good Christmas, I did.  Me, Bronson (the forge cat), a piece of steak and peace & Quiet.  What more could you want?

cate
Bronson

On the subject of Bronson, his face swelled up at the beginning of the month which meant a trip to the vets!  I should explain.  Bronson is named after “Charles Bronson”, not the actor but Britain’s most notorious prisoner and self-proclaimed hardest man.  Bronson was thrown over the fence of the farm one night about 5 years ago in a cat carrier.  When they tried to get him out he attacked claws, teeth the whole 9 yards, then refused to go near anyone.  I think he was abused, not found out by who but I never give up hope.  With a bit of patience, after about 2 years I could finally stroke him.  Now he lives in the forge and will get on my lap.  He will still avoid most people and will not be in the same vicinity of kids for any reason.  But I cannot pick him up, so taking him to the vets is a challenge! Good news, the morning of the vet trip the swelling had gone down.  Thank God for that.  I should point out that he isn’t violent.  He runs away. Well December went well, bit quiet on the work front as we needed to finish all those small jobs before Christmas and have clear run on the several projects we are starting in the New Year, but boy was I busy with sending out gift vouchers.  Very popular this year so our courses – www.blacksmithingcourses.co.uk – over the next couple of months should be busy.

On the subject of courses great news.  At the end of February we will do our first course with Not in Education  Employment or Training (N.E.E.T) kids!  For years many of us have tried to get these kids into the Forge and Rural Arts Centre, but have always met with resistance for some reason or other.  These kids tend not to like authority or formal education (wonder if that reminds any of my old teachers of anyone:)).  The forge is the kind place that has a great chance to make a difference to their lives.  Having met a couple of them recently they are good kids, a little mis-guided perhaps, who can be an asset to our community. We will run this session free of charge, so a big thanks to all who have attended a course, and to those who will in the future.  You have made this possible.  Also a huge THANK YOU to Fiona, Stepney City Farm’s new education officer, who approached us straight away to see if we could help.

railings
Repaired Railing at St Johns
lead pouring
Lead Pouring

Ah yes, I mentioned last month about the railings (Stairway to heaven coming out the speakers at this very moment – Loud but not enough to annoy the neighbours (I hope) – There are some benefits to the missus being away) at St Johns Church Hampstead.  Quite a straight forward job on first inspection, clean up the wrought iron top rail, repair the cast uprights and back stay……. Voila job done!  Yeah if only life was like that! This has to be the hardest cast iron I have ever come across, even Neil – with 50 yrs experience – was surprised.  As with all jobs like this, cast that has been smashed is like jigsaw puzzle.  It also means that we aren’t always able to use all the original materials as too many joints weakens the uprights, so we have had to strengthen with new steel.

You may wonder why we do not just have new upright cast. Well we always try to use as much of the original as possible. Our repairs are also visible as this helps to date the ironwork and also, as with all historic structure, tells the story of the church.  Me And Billy spent two days doing the install and it was awful couple of days. The job went well but it rained constantly!  The new railings were fixed using traditional lead pouring at the bottom and lead fixing at the top.  One problem though.  Hampstead is expensive!  Never thought I’d say this, but the cheapest place for lunch? Starbucks!  What’s the world coming to?  On the positive side the insurance company paid out in record time.  Have also surveyed the rest of the ironwork at the church that need some TLC or repairing correctly in some cases, so hopefully in the very near future it will be back to its former glory.  I love my job! 🙂

jack
Jack in Action – He’s the little one – The big one daddy!

The Rural Arts Centre had its Christmas Crafty Saturday at the beginning of the month and a very busy day.  A little story about Jack.  He is the eldest son of one of the farms trustee’s, Richard, who for some strange and unknown reason told me that I was a bad man and Santa was only going to bring me coal for Christmas!  One thing Jack I’m a blacksmith.  Things that I can burn in the forge – Good.  Jack, along with loads of other kids, young & old, played in the forge.  Jack has now decided he’s going to be a blacksmith and work in forge. And that’s all that happen this month.  Looking forward to Lizzie coming home and another exciting year in the forge.  I hope you all have enjoyed the festive period and have a peaceful and happy 2015!

STOP PRESS – Clear your diaries on 4th-7th Aug 2015. Planning has begun on a 4 intensive blacksmithing course at the forge.  Only 3 places will be available.  Keep an eye in this blog and http://www.blacksmithingcourses.co.uk for details in the near future.