I’m Mike, and my forge is about 45 minutes from Bristol, near Stroud in the Cotswolds. If you live in or around Bristol and you’re after something to do that isn’t the usual list, this is probably closer than you think. You spend the day at a real working forge making your own knife or hook from raw steel, and you take it home. No experience needed.
Bristol is not short of things to do, but a full day at a working forge is a proper change from the usual list. You spend it heating steel and shaping it by hand, and you drive home about 45 minutes later with a knife or a hook you made yourself. Close enough for an easy day out, and different enough to be the one everyone remembers.
It’s about 32 miles from Bristol to Stroud, around 40 minutes up the M5, and the forge in Slad is a few minutes further on (Route Calculator). Allow about 45 minutes in all, up through some genuinely pretty countryside. There’s parking on site.
No car? Trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Stroud take roughly 1 hour 20 minutes, usually with a change (Trainline). Pick-up from Stroud station is possible, just let me know when you book. Times change, so check National Rail before you travel.
On a blacksmithing day your first project is a hook, which sounds humble but teaches you everything: drawing out, tapering, bending and twisting. After that it’s pokers, handles and pendants in mild steel. On a knife making day you forge a knife from high carbon steel, worked at 1,200 to 1,400 degrees in the gas forge. Whatever you make, it’s yours, you made it.
Days start at 10:30am. Blacksmithing days finish around 4:30pm and knife making days usually between 5pm and 6:30pm. Groups are small, a maximum of six for blacksmithing and four for knife making, so it’s a proper day, not a 45 minute slot with twenty strangers. That makes it a great option for a birthday, a date that’s actually interesting, a father and son or mother and daughter day, or a small group who want to do something they’ve never done.
It also makes a brilliant gift. If someone near Bristol is always watching Forged in Fire and saying they’d love a go, a voucher is the nudge that makes it happen. Vouchers are valid for a year.
Dates often sell out in advance. See every upcoming knife making and blacksmithing day, and how many spaces are left, on the Course Calendar.
Both are full days at the forge near Stroud, an easy 45 minutes from Bristol. Small groups (up to six for blacksmithing, four for knife making), all levels, and you take home what you make.
A full introduction to traditional blacksmithing. Learn the fundamentals, work with real tools, and leave with 1 or 2 pieces you forged yourself.
A knife making course (experience day) at my forge in Stroud. Come get hands-on with fire and steel, enjoy the day, and walk away with a hand-forged knife made by YOU.
Yes. Soulful Iron is about 45 minutes from Bristol, near Stroud in the Cotswolds, running blacksmithing and knife making days for all levels.
About 45 minutes by car. There’s parking on site.
Yes, knife making days are one of the main things I run. You forge a blade from 1084 high carbon steel and take it home.
Yes, up to six people on a blacksmithing day and four on a knife making day. Good for couples, families with over-11s, and small groups.
Prices and booking are on the experience days page, and gift vouchers are valid for a year.
A day at the forge is about as different as it gets, and it’s an easy drive out of the city.
Small groups, all levels, and you take home what you made. Book your date, or send it as a gift.