Forging Ahead
From maths to molten metal, meet the accountant who found a new spark of life by becoming a blacksmith
by Annabelle Bradley
Do you ever begin to dread Sunday nights? Laying awake, your brain whirring, stomach churning, with thoughts of an arduous Monday morning commute to work, rushing to drop the kids en-route, hoping the nursery staff don’t notice their breakfast covered clothes until you are safely back in your car. The memory flooding back of the urgent paperwork you stuffed back in your in tray with wanton abandon on Friday evening.
Well for me that sleepless night has gone. Monday morning begins by waving goodbye to my daughters as they set off to the village school at a very reasonable hour. Embarking on my new commute of a fifty metre walk through Malham, one of the most beautiful villages in the Yorkshire Dales, crossing the ancient clapper bridge over the babbling beck and into the Malham Smithy to begin my days work as the village blacksmith. And as for the piece of work discarded in frustration before the weekend, well that takes on new life as it is reheated in the forge, hammered and twisted into form, each blow on the anvil releasing cobwebs and tensions, bringing the building alive and a spark in my step.
From Tax Accountant to Blacksmith, I guess the contrast could not be much greater. Nor could there be a more satisfying achievement.
I had worked for a multinational engineering organisation preparing group accounts and tax computations for many years, in fact the years just started slipping by with that comfort zone enveloping smoothly round me before I even noticed. With my children starting school, the two and a half hour daily commute was beginning to unravel the practicalities of running a family life and a career and I reached a point where I had to consider rearranging my work life to fit my family. Should I choose to just relocate physical work surroundings closer to home or should I relocate my future, embark upon a new adventure, listen to my creative yearnings?
Sometimes, something, somewhere, prompts you. Don’t ignore it. My push came from the local Parish News, the local church owned the Malham Smithy, bequeathed to them by renowned blacksmith Bill Wild, which had lain unoccupied for several years. The Church Wardens were looking for interested parties to bring life back to the smithy, and who was I to refuse? I hoped to use the workshop for my silver work and craft hobbies, and maybe sell some things along the way. However, as custodians of our village’s heritage the Wardens had hopes that the Malham Smithy would remain just that. A blacksmiths for around 200 years, then a blacksmiths it would be. Or should I say, then a blacksmith I would be.
I took on the Malham Smithy in February 2007, and for the first couple of years agreed to share the workspace with a hobby blacksmith who helped me get started by showing me the basic techniques. Together we developed our skills, as well as developing our knowledge of what were viable commercial products and opened up the doors of the Malham Smithy to the public in April 2007.
It has been a tough learning curve, I can get immense satisfaction from spending a week creating a dramatic sculptural piece, however I then get frustrated at trying to market and sell the piece. Four years down the line hopefully I think I now know my target market, and that is dictated by my location. Malham is such a big destination for walking tourism, my focus has to be on smaller scale applied art and design, when your car is packed full of camping gear there is very little room for a large piece of sculpture, however you can always squeeze in a couple of garden drinks stakes or a bespoke candle sconce.
The appeal of my work to visitors to the Malham Smithy is benefited by the fact that you can watch me work at the forge and see your piece being created, real life ‘retail theatre’. I take part in village shows demonstrating to the public and I am fortunate enough to be invited by the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths to take part in their blacksmithing demonstrations at the Great Yorkshire Show.
When I now look to the future, the Malham Smithy is an integral part of our family life. I cannot see a time that I would be prepared to hand back the keys to the building. I feel proud of being part of the villages blacksmithing heritage, and hope that my children will also continue to enjoy the time they spend there working on the anvil, just as I do.
