Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 19
The forge
provides no clue
to which century
we’re in, let alone
decade
them; others are on father-and-son bonding days. “Some people arrive
expecting to make very complicated, intricate things, like a model of
the Eiffel Tower, but after a few tries with the hammer, they decide
they’d rather make a fire poker instead,” he laughs.
After a career in computer software design, Greg swapped
algorithms for anvils in 1999, after a metal sculpture caught his eye
in a shop window in London. “I was really taken with it, but it was
expensive, so I thought I’d try making my own.” Greg salvaged a
“knackered” old anvil from a junk shop, and his mother gifted him a
portable forge. Then, through trial and error – and countless burnt
and battered fingers – he taught himself how to twist and shape hot
metal in the time-honoured way.
Three years later, a smithy came up for sale in Moretonhampstead
when a resident blacksmith retired. Greg bought the forge, moved into
the adjoining cottage, and set up full-time, producing ironmongery
such as gates, railings and rose arches for the local community.
The Blacksmith • Greg Abel
19
