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
I’ve been blacksmithing for over 35 years. The way that the metal moves when it’s being forged is a constant fascination to me, as well as the whole myriad of ways that it can be used in and around the home, garden or public environment to make objects that are both practical and beautiful. Although I enjoy conserving and reproducing our great historical heritage of ironwork, I also like to explore the intended site and my environment for inspiration, to come up with fresh ideas when a contemporary design is more appropriate.
I can make forged ironwork in any scale – from architectural to domestic – and can work to commision or for direct sale.
I also have extensive experience of teaching and demonstrating the craft at many levels, and can offer demonstrations and bespoke short courses.
Ian has made a number of public commissions such as the main entrance gates for the Victorian Walled Garden at Saumarez Park for the Guernsey Botanical Trust and the “Welcome to the Old Quarter” arch for the entrance to Mill Street in St. Peter Port. In 2016, he started the Metalwork Sculpture Group for the University of the Third Age (u3a) in Guernsey, which encourages older people to discover how much fun you can have with with sculpting scrap-metal objects, such as old tools. Most of the group members are women who have never had any previous experience of metalwork. Projects involving use of the forge are the most popular!
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.
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.
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.
Currently Employed as a Welding Instructor at Babcock International.
Nigel is an artist blacksmith working at Fransham Forge in Norfolk England.
Nigel’s enthusiasm and dedication to his craft is shown in the vast range of high quality metalwork which is undertaken at the forge. Nigel creates decorative and functional hand forged metalwork , including sculptures, architectural metalwork, ornate iron gates and traditional ironwork for historic buildings. Nigel and his team work regularly with English Heritage and the National Trust.