My father was apprenticed to his uncle as a Farrier / Blacksmith in a small village on the borderlands between Co. Donegal and Co. Tyrone. After completing his apprenticeship, he became a career soldier and served in Egypt, Palestine, Norway and Belgium before being injured in action during the Second World War and sent back to England to recover. That ended his ‘smithing career and apart from many visits he never returned to live Ireland.
As a child I played with the few tools that my father had kept from his time before the army and although he had given up blacksmithing his tales of life ‘by the fire’ and Irish Songs and Myths fascinated me. Thus, began my near lifelong interest in metalworking and at the age of 15 I was apprenticed to a firm of fabricators where I learned welding and sheet metal work. The pull of blacksmithing, however, was never far from my mind and around 1980 I discovered the Blacksmiths Guild (The Guild of Wrought Ironwork Craftsmen of Wessex) where I attended numerous courses under the guidance of Frank Day and his group of amazing blacksmiths.
Having developed my skills I eventually produced work that I was able to sell and won various prizes at County Shows. In addition to producing traditional and modern items of blacksmithing as well as other metalwork, my work included many pieces of traditional and fantasy arms and armour.
Before retirement I was the Forge Master of Metal Wizardry and my career reached a pinnacle when I was awarded a Bronze Medal by the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths.
I am a Liveryman of the WCB and a fully qualified Adult Education teacher having achieved a Master’s Degree in Post Compulsive Education.
I was Master of The Blacksmiths Guild for four years and my interests include Irish Studies and Traditional Music
