Bramble Forge is now open in Portsmouth, UK.
Family run since 1982, we are based in Worcestershire producing a vast range of work. Small to large domestic to commercial. Working out of a large workshop we blend modern fabrication and blacksmithing to try and forge a niche in the market. Always looking to take on challenging work and produce new products.
Master blacksmith Paul Gilbert F.W.C.B est for over 27 years
Chrysalis Arts creates high quality artwork and architectural metalwork for the public realm. Kate Maddison, BA Arch collaborates with architects and developers on new projects, engaging with local authorities and involving communities in regeneration projects. The company combines the skills of artists and other design professionals with a range of highly skilled makers and specialist manufacturers, and has extensive experience in producing work to commission. The company’s diverse experience in the design, development, management and implementation of public art schemes and architectural metalwork commissions has gained Chrysalis an outstanding reputation for high calibre artwork, combined with professionalism in all aspects of project delivery.
Piers Edsall is an artisan blacksmith.
specialising in sculptural and architectural work for a number of clients in the UK and EU and runs private classes from the facility all year round.
Heavily influenced by the natural world, Piers’ forms incorporate traditional and modern techniques often encapsulating a natural element within his designs.
Lucille Scott is an artist blacksmith who uses modern and traditional techniques to make hand forged metal items inspired by nature and her love of dance and music. For Lucille the appeal of working with steel lies in the traditional role of blacksmiths, the permanence of their work and passing on this tradition to all around her.
With 25 years experience of teaching practical subjects Lucille opens her forge on a regular basis to students and those who just want a days experience as well as running short courses in local schools.
Lucille’s work is mainly aimed at at the domestic market, she exhibits in local galleries as well as working to commission.
Photographs kindly supplied by Retina Photography.
I offer bespoke hand forged ironwork in mild steel and wrought iron, I also enjoy the challenge of creating one off pieces combining ironwork and wood, Conservation work on historical ironwork (Wrought iron and Cast iron), and teaching.
One day and three day courses with pete smith LWCB. Evening classes. Traditional forgework skills, tool making etc. Expressions of interest in a five week full time course, the equivalent to a year at a college, are welcome with a view to running in the autumn. Full details on request. For further info please view website or email. Pete.
Based on the outskirts of Bradford,Ian is the fourth generation of blacksmiths and engineers born in Halifax,from the Baxter family.
Iam a dedicated craftsman who has a great deal of pride in my work and have accumalated a wealth of knowledge and information on both historical and up to date methods of blacksmithing and heritage engineering.
Our blacksmithing courses and experience days are suitable for absolute beginners (adults, and teenagers from the age of 14 upwards*) or for metalworkers seeking to gain a basic understanding or improvement of iron-forging techniques. Classes are limited to 8 students, each with their own forge, anvil, leg vice and necessary tools. We’ve been running courses now for more than 28 years. . .
The emphasis within our courses is on learning the seven basic techniques of hot forging during the making of decorative And/or useful objects; participants can expect to make several such objects to take home at the end of the course. Participants are encouraged to discover the properties of hot iron, with the sympathetic expert guidance of our excellent tutors.
Based just of Jct 9 of the M25 in Leatherhead, Surrey, right next to our world-famous Fire and Iron Gallery in a pleasant semi-rural, historic setting, our blacksmithing courses are run and managed by Tom Quinnell. Our family blacksmithing business has been running continuously since 1932, but our courses first took place back in 1996 when The Quinnell School of Blacksmithing was set up by Richard Quinnell. Richard was a prime mover in the 1970s revival of the craft of artist blacksmithing in the UK, and he was awarded the MBE in 1989 for his contribution. Tom is Richard’s grandson, and he is now the 5th generation to work at the site. After a successful 15-year career with Mercedes-Benz, Tom returned to work at Rowhurst Forge where he grew up and learned the craft from a very young age.
Ian first started blacksmithing having decided that office work wasn’t necessarily for him.
Starting work with a local blacksmiths firm in April 2008, by the end of the first day Ian was hooked. He promptly signed up to the blacksmith course at Warwickshire College where he spent 2 years training with Michelle Parker to obtain his National Certificate in Blacksmithing.
In March 2011, Ian was awarded a journeymanship by the Princes Foundation for Building Community. This gave him the opportunity to work with a number of well renowned blacksmiths throughout the country, providing Ian with invaluable experience.
Upon completing his studies in 2012, Ian returned to the Dorset-Wiltshire borders where he has joined Tony and Paul Sparkes at their forge in the village of Berwick St John where he has completed a wide variety of commissions ranging from simple fire sets to complex sets of gates, railings and balconies.
The forge also offers a wide range of fabricational facilities for structural metalwork.
Ian’s personal interest lies in ancient metalwork and he has an ongoing commission from the Ancient Technology Centre to create replications of tools used in the Roman, Saxon, Viking and Medieval periods.
In 2013, Ian was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths for works done to date.
Drawing is fundamental to my art.
I want my work to entertain in the same way that music does, to make the metal dance. It’s about communicating – it’s joyous. I like to think I can show people another world.
I originally studied painting at Chelsea College of Art but started making sculptures twenty years ago, when I discovered the combination of strength and malleability of metal when heated. Drawings quickly become forms.
The images that I portray tend to be derived from the natural world or from classical and mythological sources, but I’m also very interested in the mechanics of things, practical technology, and my most recent pieces sometimes include a kinetic aspect. The school gates I designed and built in Brighton as a public art commission demonstrate a marriage of artistic and technical abilities.
As well as fine art sculpture I produce bespoke metalwork, public commissions, and furniture. I also conduct art workshops for schools, colleges and teachers.
There is only one way of becoming a farrier and that is to complete the recognised Farriery Apprenticeship.
The apprenticeship lasts four years and two months – working for an Approved Training Farrier and undertaking block release training and assessment at Myerscough College to achieve the Level 3 Diploma in Farriery (work-based), in preparation to undertake the Worshipful Company of Farriers (WCF) Diploma in Farriery.
The 8485 Level 2 Certificate in Forgework is a pre-requisite for the Farriery apprenticeship. It delivers the foundation skills required
for using and maintaining basic blacksmith’s tools, operating a forge safely and introducing the practical blacksmithing techniques of forging, forming, cutting and joining.
This intensive course is primarily for those students who wish to develop a career in farriery or blacksmithing as well as those who wish to develop forging skills in conjunction with existing professional abilities such as engineers or metalwork artists. The qualification is recognised throughout the UK and is a compulsory requirement for any student wishing to undertake a Farriery Apprenticeship.
Location
Preston: Bilsborrow campus.
Duration
12 weeks. The course runs three times each year, in September, January and April.
Level
Intermediate.
Entry Requirements
5 GCSEs at A-C including English Language, Maths and a science for those applicants looking to progress to a farriery apprenticeship. Applicants must also attend an interview and Forge Assessment.
Additional Course Requirements
A keen interest in pursuing a career as a farrier or blacksmith.
Assessment
Multiple choice online test, portfolio of work and practical exam.
Progression
Farriery Apprenticeship (Level 3 Farriery).
Career Opportunities
Students passing this course will have the qualification to become an apprentice farrier.
A4A Art for Architecture owned by John McKenna Sculptor have extensive working experience and practical design sense to undertake large-scale public art projects drawing on over twenty years of sculpture experience. We work with a variety of media, including large bronze sculpture cast here at our own foundry the A4A Art bronze foundry, and fabricate large stainless steel and steel structures at our studio workshop in Turnberry, near Girvan, Ayrshire. In the past besides working in bronze and steel we have created art as glazed brick architectural reliefs, metalwork fabrications, stone and cast stone panels. This cumulative mass of experience over the years and genuine creativity has enabled us to resolve many artworks leaving as many delighted collectors, clients and the public to enjoy our work for generations to come. We create all sorts of artworks from cast bronze portrait statues, to colossal stainless steel figures, unique bespoke structural canopies, railings, gates, way markers, one-off bollards, signposts, smaller awards and trophies.
Currently Employed as a Welding Development Technician at BAE Systems.