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Celebrating Hilary’s Amazing Blacksmithing Experience at Soulful Iron, Stroud

At Soulful Iron, we recently had the pleasure of hosting Hilary, a passionate learner who truly embraced the spirit of blacksmithing during her experience day. It’s always rewarding to see someone not only enjoy their time in the forge but excel at it—and Hilary did just that! The day started as all our experience days do… with a cup of tea and a casual introduction to the tools and safety procedures. But Hilary quickly proved a very capable student! with her enthusiasm, eagerness to learn, and practical skills. After a few key techniques, she created her first project—a beautifully forged hook. Despite it being her first time in a blacksmith’s forge, she took to the craft naturally. Hilary also decided to challenge herself more, by trying her hand at angle grinding and MIG welding—something she had never done before. While blacksmithing and welding are two distinct skills, both are key elements of working with metal. Under guidance, Hilary not only got comfortable with the MIG welder but used it to add the finishing touches to one of her pieces. Here’s what Hilary had to say about her experience: Just had a brilliant day on a blacksmithing workshop at Soulful Iron. Mike is so nice and such a good teacher. I was able to use all of the tools to make two great pieces and thoroughly enjoyed the day. See Hilary’s Review on Facebook Here. I’m incredibly proud of how well Hilary did, not only mastering the basics of blacksmithing but also pushing herself to explore new skills like welding. She left the workshop with not one, but two handcrafted pieces, including her first-ever forged hook and a stunning, functional creation she welded herself. Hilary’s day is a perfect example of what we aim to offer at Soulful Iron: a hands-on, supportive, and fun environment where anyone, regardless of experience, can dive into the world of blacksmithing and leave with something they’ve made with their own hands. We can’t wait to see what Hilary makes next time! If Hilary’s story inspires you to try blacksmithing for yourself, why not join us for an experience day? Whether it’s your first time or you’re looking to expand your skills, we’d love to welcome you to the forge > https://soulfuliron.co.uk/products/experience-days/

Move To Slad Almost Complete!

The move to the Slad workshop is ALMOST complete. It’s taken a while, with let-downs from the van hire company and other issues… But I’m getting there!   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Soulful Iron (@soulful_iron) I have a few bits of kit still to move, and then it’ll take around 1 week to be fully operational! Experience days will be coming from the 10th June 2024… So, not long now!

The Forge Is Moving!

My forge has been in Bassaleg, just on the outskirts of Newport for several months now. However it’s time to move on! I’m moving the forge to Slad, about 3 miles out of Stroud. As well as the forge, I’ll be moving my classic Morris Traveller that I’m restoring, a 1953 Bedford S-Type lorry (to restore), and a Mercedes 814 7.5t Horsebox (to convert into a camper at the front and mobile forge in the back – Ideal for shows etc). The new workshop is considerably bigger, dry, and has a little space outside. It’s also more suitable for ‘Experience Days’ that are proving quite popular, with my waiting list now over 100 people! EXCITING TIMES! Stay tuned for pics of the (likely chaotic) move… from juggling anvils to shifting heavy forges, and more antics! This does mean a 2 week delay on shipping anything that’s marked ‘Out Of Stock’ on the website (but no delay for in stock items!).

Find Me At Stroud Farmers Market Each Saturday (April)

Whilst I don’t have a guaranteed regular pitch at the market, I’ll be at Stroud Farmer’s Market every Saturday during April, and hopefully longer term too. I’ve requested a stall every Saturday that’s available during this summer, and will keep the blog updated when I find out what stalls I’ll be doing. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect at Stroud Farmer’s Market: I hope to see you there!