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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT; IF YOU ARE BROWSING THIS SITE AND RECEIVE A MESSAGE SAYING; 'FATAL ERROR, OUT OF DYNAMIC MEMORY THEN PLEASE CLICK THE REFRESH BUTTON ON YOUR BROWSER AND YOU SHOULD BE OK, THIS MESSAGE OFTEN APPEARS WHEN THE SITE IS OVERLOADED WITH TRAFFIC. Our BASIC BEGINNERS COURSE: In just short of three days our Basic Beginners must be one of the finest Blacksmithing couses available! The sheer amount of techniques learned, the teamwork, enjoyment and social interaction developed, all add up to a thouroughly worthwhile and unforgetable experience. Listed below are the forging processes covered on this course; Health and safety in the workshop, Drawing down and upsetting; Forging round and square tapers and points, Forging leaves and berries, Hot splitting using a set, Forging wavy tapered motifs, Forging and riveting a tennon, hot twisting, Branch fire-welding, Making a figure of eight ended scroll, Forming freehand curves using the anvil and hammer, making collers and wraprounds, assembly and finishing. WOW; all in three days! Please view our introductory video on the right hand side of this page in order to see one of these courses in action, please also have your sound turned on. Rachel, who came on our last Basic Beginners course writes; Dear Bob, thank you for three excellent days blacksmithing last week - I enjoyed every minute. Just finished reading your book. When you quoted the opening paragraph when we were in the pub last week you may remember I said it was the exact experience I had as a child " leaning over the stable door of the blacksmiths forge in the Derbyshire village of Thulston" watching brother Jack and David Dean for hours on end and occasionally being allowed to pump the bellows. The only diffence is you were able to follow your dream - I have had to wait 60 years to get my hands on a big hammer and an anvil. Thanks again. Best Wishes, Rachel CALLIGRAPHY IN IRON: I have always enjoyed forging letters and numerals, whether for house names, weathervanes, village signs etc, etc. The hand forging of letters can produce an extremely attractive style of script, far more beautiful and flowing that letters that have been cut from sheet. I am therefore considering providing a three day course whereby students with some previous knowledge of forgework can learn and develop hand forged lettering techniques. Please contact me if you are interested. :.At the bottom of ths page are two superb professional Slideshows of i) the work we have produced in the realm of Restoration, Conservation and Church work, and ii) Ironwork for the home and garden. Please click on the smile-box screens in order to view the images and ensure that your sound is turned on. The images will hopefully show you the superb quality work we have achieved The images are stored in a remote server and therefore take up no space on your hard drive.If you are interested in commissioning any such work please give us an opportunity to suggest designs and costings etc. 'IRON IN THE BLOOD' by Bob Oakes (alias; Frederick John Pope), has taken two and a half years to write. The book IS NOW on sale price £9.99 plus P&P of £2.95. (see 'PAY PAL' on the right hand side of this page) Please allow up to 14 days for delivery. Early reports are that it is a wonderful read and a must for all those interested in our craft Cliff Jones who attended one of our recent courses writes; I have just finished reading your book "Iron in the blood". I have often wondered how people become skilled craftsmen and when I have seen programs on TV they always seem to jump from shortly after they got started to when they are experts ! Your book makes great reading, showing the twists and turns, the good (and bad) luck and the perseverance needed to get where you are. But most of all I found it inspiring. I wish I was that boy looking through the grimy window ! Any way, it is a bit late for me now but I am inspired to learn and practice more. When you last called I said that I would be pre occupied for a while on my house extension and this is still the case. Work has not started yet but all of the planning hurdles have been crossed. I think I really need to find a place nearby to set up a forge. I live in the countryside so I am hoping that will be possible. I do have space in my garden but, especially bearing in mind your experience with complaining neighbou rs, I think I should be cautious !! So I will keep in touch and will no doubt come up for some more training sometime next year. Thanks again for a great piece of education.
You were working on a commission for a pub in… I think Needham Market (or was it Stowmarket) It would be great to see the finished article. Let me know when you will be down to install it and I will pop along to say hello.
Finally, I was very moved by the last few pages of your book and it now it is clear why Iron is in the Blood,
Best wishes cliffThe book will make an excellent Christmas or birthday gift as would one of our courses, I have produced an excellent gift card for this purpose, please contact me if you are interested Marianne Nixey, http://www.mariannenixey.com/courses.html a local professional artist provides art workshops, acrylic, drawing, pastels and mixed media at Cold Hanworth Forge, concurrently with our courses, working in our classroom. The cost for the student would be £25 per session of three hours, including all art materials and tea/coffee. This is a superb opportunity for both partners to take part in activities at our establishment at Cold Hanworth. We would also allow other students to take part in these Art Workshops as a separate entity by themselves. Please inform me if you are interested. For those living locally, Marianne is running regular classes entitled; CREATIVE PAINTING; (A new art class for Lincoln)'Explore paint and play with it, drop the brush,use a knife, spoon, pipe it; the possibilities are endless, Create pieces of art and have fun. Every Thursday Evening 7-9pmCost £40.00 for six weeks or £8 single session. Basic materials supplied.St Mary-le-Wigford Church Hall (next to Lincoln Train Station)Contact; 01522801910/07528776741 |
Cold Hanworth Forge isn't just any old working forge. From the range of courses we offer to the sculptures we hand-finish, we are unique. You can find out more from our introductory videos . 
Cold Hanworth Forge and Blacksmithing School is based in the heart of Lincolnshire and we are renowned for our craftmanship in ironwork. Under the guidance of professional blacksmith, Bob Oakes, we also offer professional and vocational blacksmithing courses as well as training and tuition in blacksmithing and forge work for all levels of ability.
