A new blacksmith has joined Chain Bridge Forge, helping to secure the Spalding-based living museum’s future, it is hoped.
Qualified blacksmith David Baynes, will combine helping at the forge with continuing to run his farrier business.
The Voice was among local media to promote the High Street forge’s call for additional help, which has also resulted in an influx of contacts from people keen to volunteer there.
David (39), of Peterborough, said: “Blacksmithing was always something I enjoyed and wanted to get back into but it’s quite difficult to make a living out of it.
“This is such a lovely opportunity – I’m really looking forward to it.”
Museum director Geoff Taylor was finding it difficult to replace old hand Chris Hammond, who at 70 was finding the job too demanding.
Geoff said: “Because the forge doesn’t get any money from anywhere and we have free admission, we have to earn our living and the blacksmith is key to that.
“It’s a bit like a steam engine with no steam – it’s all right but put steam in and you have the noise and hiss and it all comes to life. With a blacksmith, the forge is alive and it makes the building vibrant. Without that blacksmith, the place is very flat.
“It’s now freeing us to build our 3D printing area and look for ways to make money from our heritage website.”
Website SouthHollandLife.com features nostalgic pictures of the area and attracted 100,000 visitors last year. Geoff is hoping sponsors and advertisers will come on board.
He is also hopeful the forge may become of interest to people who want to get involved with the new South Holland Men’s Shed project – designed to give people the chance to enjoy each other’s company whilst working on either individual or community projects. Various partners, including the forge, are trying to establish the Men’s Shed.
Prospective volunteers have come forward to get involved as directors, to help manage the museum and with 3D printing. It is hoped volunteers will contribute towards helping it develop its paid-for experience days, which see groups and individuals have a go at blacksmithing and will hopefully extend to learning about and trying out 3D printing. The forge has already had commissions to create 3D models, including for a museum that wanted replicas of artefacts that people could touch and hopes to increase that work too.
