1

TheWorshipfulCompany ofBlacksmiths

Newsletter22nd IssueMay 2003

Editors:Past Prime Warden James Latham

andDr Arthur M. Sage Ph.D. (Eng), B.Sc., C.Eng., F.I.M.

Published by: The Publicity and Public Relations Committee,Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, 48 Upwood Road, Lee, London SE12 8AN

www.blacksmithscompany.org.uk

On Other PagesThe Restoration of Old Forgings 2New Liverymen 2-3Gift to the Queen on her Golden Jubilee 4Memorial to Commonwealth Servicemen

in the 1939-45 war 5Directory of Blacksmiths 5Changes in Administration 5Blacksmiths’ Forged Sword Stand links City to USA 6-7

Michaelmas Court Luncheon and Awards Ceremony 8-9The Welsh Livery Guild 9News in Brief 10Liverymen’s knowledge of the City 10Les Armstrong, Liveryman Blacksmith No. 5 11Prime Warden’s Diary – Looking back at 2002 12Company’s Diary – Looking forward in 2003 12A Father and Son’s contribution 12

Restoration of Iron Work– see Pages 2-3

Restoration of Iron Work– see Pages 2-3

Replacing missing leaves

The Restoration ofOld ForgingsRemodelling forgingsmechanically damaged

2

Restoration of damaged and corroded forgings is animportant part of the blacksmith’s art and manyblacksmiths spend a large proportion of their time

doing this kind of work.When doing restoration work, a blacksmith, in addition

to his normal skills for forging iron, must also be able totake account of the behaviour of the original iron whichmay be of a different type and behave differently underthe hammer.

Arthur M. Sage

We were asked to restorethree early eighteenthcentury panels which

featured some fairly intricaterepoussé leaves, some of which weremissing. The original leaves weremade from high quality wroughtiron but this material is no longeravailable and so another suitablematerial had to be found. Steelwould have been too difficult towork and so I chose to use avirtually pure form of iron whichbehaves in a similar way to goodquality new wrought-iron. Thepicture shows one of the originalleaves and my opposite handed copywhich has the bright silvery finishtypical of pure iron.

The first task was to produce anoutline of the leaf. Then, havingdrawn this on my computer, Iemailed it as a CAD file (ComputerAided Design) to a company whichlaser cut the leaf from 1mm thick

pure iron sheet. I used smallspecialist hammers and formers toshape the leaf and no heat wasneeded. This process of creating arelief pattern by hammering from

behind is known as repoussé workand is one of the many skills aprofessional blacksmith is expectedto master.

Don Barker F.W.C.B.

We were pleased to welcome SimonAshby to the Livery at the MichaelmasCourt meeting. Simon is a workingblacksmith based at Tramway Forge,Eardisley, near Hereford. While astudent at the National School of

Blacksmithing he won the StanleyAllcard Cup, which is a testimony to hisskills. Liveryman Raymond Holl wasSimon’s sponsor.

At the Epiphany Court anotherworking blacksmith became a

Liveryman. He is Ray Jones, adistinguished and highly acclaimedblacksmith with his own Company atManor Farm, Burton Hastings inWarwickshire. He is well known to theCompany through his work and from

New Liverymen

Replacing parts which havesuffered severe corrosion

his frequent appearances at Companyfunctions. It was disappointing thatDennis Black was unable, on the day,to act as his sponsor, but that role wasmore than adequately filled by hisson, Brian.

In addition Geoffrey Berry acted assponsor to Harry Corben. Harry hasretired from HM Customs and Excisewhere, among his many achievements,he was a leading expert on VAT.Harry has a strong interest in history

and so it is appropriate for him tohave joined an ancient Company suchas ours.

We welcome all three newLiverymen and look forward to seeingthem at many of the Company’s events.

Restoration of 19th Century Gateway

3

North Mimms gates in Hertfordshire took two years to restoreand alter. The overthrow had been cut off and left in thegarden.

The arched tops of the gates had broken away from the gates andwere also left in the garden.

A large tree had blow down next to one of the side panels andsmashed through the overthrow and panel.

The gates were altered to power automated opening and closingand the main overthrow was altered to raise and lower one metre, atthe press of a button, to give better access to high vehicles.

Robert Hobbs F.W.C.B.

Master Blacksmith & Engineer

The Restoration of NorthMimms House Gates– 19th Century

The Tate family lived on the north side of StreathamCommon in a house approached through an entrancecomprising 4m wide wrought iron gates and by

pedestrian gates. These were erected circa 1870 andextended in the 1960’s. The house, which contained theoriginal Tate Gallery when it was set up together withneighbouring property, is being developed for modernhousing and the developer requires the driveway to bewidened and the planning authorities specify that the gatesshould be 4m further back from the roadway.

In order to meet these requirements, in addition torestoring the original gates, two additional 4m wide gatesidentical with the original had to be made. These had tobe of the same design as the gates and had to be madeto connect the original posts supporting the gates at thenew location.

The original posts were surmounted with lamps and athird had to be made for the third post now required for theextra gate.

Gates & RailingsWork on the original gates first involved dismantling so thatthe various cast iron elements could be identified and used

to make patterns for thecastings required in therestoration and productionof the new pair of gates andrailings. On completion allwere fully decorated.

The LampsThe lamps were 600mmdiameter globes squared offcontaining eight sections of moulded glass, surmounted bya crown and orb mounted on a 850mm high pedestal. As anidentical copy was required, tooling was made to reproducethecopper sectionsneededunderapress.These sectionswerethen soldered together to produce the finished lamp. One ofthe sections was hinged to allow the fitting of light bulbs.

Because the pattern costs for a one-off item would havebeen extremely expensive, it was decided to cut one of theoriginal pedestals horizontally at strategic points in sevenplaces in order that the foundry could cast the parts for thereplica. These parts were then assembled and drilled andtapped together.

Peter Begent F.W.C.B.

The Original Tate Gallery

4

Gift to The Queen on Her Golden Jubilee

The Company commissioned aCommemorative Dish forsale to Liverymen to

mark the Golden Jubilee of HerMajesty the Queen. As a markof this ancient Company’sloyalty one was presented toHer Majesty with a LoyalAddress. The Address and theacknowledgement are reproducedfor the information of Liverymen.

Company’s Loyal Address and Commemorative Dishsent to Her Majesty

The Memorial Gates Trust hasjust completed London’s latestlandmark which is on

Constitution Hill. Fifty years afterthe end of the Second World War itwas decided that it was high timefor us to acknowledge the substantialcontribution made by five millionservicemen from the Commonwealthand Kingdom of Nepal during thetwo world wars.

This memorial consists of fourPortland Stone columns upon whichare inscribed India, Pakistan, SriLanka, Bangladesh, Africa, TheCaribbean and the Kingdom ofNepal. Each column is capped by abronze urn. In the space between thecolumns the road has been surfacedwith red Indian granite setts.Constitution Hill slopes not onlyfrom Hyde Park Corner down toBuckingham Palace but also fromGreen Park to the wall of the Palace.Thismakes it verydifficult to constructnormal gates and the chosen architect,Mr Liam O’Connor, put forward thesuggestion that a line of rising bollardsin bronze should be used togetherwith matching bronze lamps. A

Chattri or pavilion has beenadded in which the names of allthe VCs and GCs won by thetroops are displayed in the roof.The project is completed withtwo stone memorials uponwhich are inscribed the namesof the campaigns in whichthey served namely: 1914-18Mesopotamia, Persia, China,Syria, Palestine, South Arabia,West Africa, Egypt, East Africa,France, Belgium, Gallipoli,Russia; and 1939-45 India,Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Persia,HongKong,DutchEast Indies, France,Belgium, Italy, Greece, North Africa,East Africa, Syria, Iraq.

It has cost a total of £2,764,209to build of which £1,087,500 wasprovided by the MillenniumCommission. It took GeoffreyOsbourne Ltd, with their specialisedstone masons subsidiary theCathedral Works Organisation, sixmonths to build, but three years toplan and raise the necessary funds.

The foundation stone was laidby Her Majesty the Queen inAugust 2002 on behalf of the

Queen Mother and inauguration wasperformed by Her Majesty on Tuesday6th November 2002.

Colonel Sir Neil ThornePast Prime Warden,

Chairman Trustees Finance and Development

Editorial Note: The original intentionwas that the memorial would containtraditional wrought iron gates andas a result Sir Neil Thorne was invitedto be a trustee. The first design,however, was changed and the gateswere omitted but through Sir Neil TheCompany retained an involvement inthe project.

Service of Commonwealth Soldiers in 1939-45 war

5

The Directory of Blacksmiths is now fullyworking on the Company’s web sitewww.blacksmithscompany.org.uk. It contains

the names, addresses, contact details and informationon types of work undertaken by over 300 blacksmiths.The Directory on line has been structured to enablesearches for specific skills and location to beundertaken.

It is possible for those listed in the Directory to

update their entry directly which will be incorporatedonce authorised by the Webmaster.

One area of concern to the Webmaster is how to keepup-to-date with news of retirement or death. Itwould be greatly appreciated if the Webmaster(craft.administrator@blacksmithscompany.org.uk) or theClerk could be advised when anybody is awareof such circumstances.

Christopher Jeal

Directory of Blacksmiths

Changes inAdministration

Secretary of the Craft Committee – Mr Pat Morrisey has replaced Dr Arthur Sage.Applications for Company Awards – In future applications for Company Awards shouldbe sent to the Clerk and not to the Secretary of the Craft Committee.Secretary of the Publicity and Public Relations Committee –Mr Pat Morrisey has replaced Dr Arthur Sage.

Memorial erected on Constitution Hill

Blacksmiths’ Forged Swordin memorial to Sir

6

St Mary’s Church –

Aldermanbury · London

St Mary’s Church which stoodin Aldermanbury could claimto be one of the oldest sites of

Christian worship in the City. It isrecorded that a church existed on thesite in 1181 and there is evidence ofSaxon foundations beneath it. Thefirst recorded church named St Maryof Magdalene was no doubt built ofwood and was burnt down in theGreat Fire of 1666.

Rebuilt by WrenThe church was rebuilt by Wren as

St Mary Aldermanbury in 1668.As the years went by the City

slowly depopulated, the need forchurches decreased and in 1862 theBishop of London proposed thatSt Mary’s, along with certain otherLondon churches, be demolished. TheChurch Wardens, however, opposedthe scheme and St Mary’s surviveduntil 1940 when it was damaged in anair raid.

When St Mary of Aldermanbury was built it was customary forthe Lord Mayor to go to a different church in the City eachSunday for worship. He processed from the Mansion House to

the selected church and was preceded by the Sword bearer carrying theLord Mayor’s sword.

When they arrived at the church the sword bearer placed the sword in astand in the front of the church and collected it when the service was over.These stands were made of wrought iron and often ornately decorated. Thereis, however, no record of such a stand being present at St Mary’s.

In 1668 an ornate sword stand was made by Robert Bird, one of Wren’sblacksmiths, for St Michael’s Church, Wood Street. This church wasdemolished in 1897 and the sword stand was acquired by The Haberdashers’Hall where it still resides.

The Sword Stand

Hector Moore

The City of LondonThe Haberdashers’ CompanyThe Chartered Insurers InstituteThe Blacksmiths’ CompanyBevis Marks SynagogueSt Paul’s Cathedral

The Barbers’ CompanyThe Innholders’ CompanyThe Shipwrights’ CompanySir Ralph PerringThe Merchant Taylors’ CompanyThe Tallow Chandlers’ Company

London Sponsors of Sword Stand

Photo: M. Moore

7

Stand links City with USAWinston Churchill– moved to Missouri

Fulton · Missouri

Westminster College were keen tohave a sword standandcommissionedHector Moore, a silver medallist ofOur Worshipful Company, to makea replica of the stand which is nowin the Haberdashers’ Hall. Hector’swife assisted Hector in applying someof the gold leaf to the stand.

The cost of the stand wascontributed by fourteen LiveryCompanies and other Cityorganisations whose plaques havebeen incorporated on poles either sideof the stand. It is now in the rebuiltchurch in Westminster, Missouri.

Arthur M. Sage

In 1946 Sir Winston Churchill whenvisiting the USAon 5th March went toWestminster College, Missouri, wherehe made his famous speech about the“Iron Curtain”.

In view of the importance whichbecame attached to this phrase theCollege decided to establish amemorial to SirWinstonChurchill andthe speech, and in 1961 Dr Davidson,

thePresident of theCollege,was askedto approach the Bishop of Londonrequesting that one of the blitzdamaged churches be dismantled,transported and re-erected in Fulton,Missouri. The Diocese of Londonagreed that the church of St Marycould be so treated and starting in 1966it was moved stone by stone to Fulton,Missouri and the church was rebuilt.

ContemporaryBlacksmithcommissioned toreplicate originalsword stand

Sir Winston Churchill hangs Iron Curtain

St Lawrence JewryThe Pewterers’ CompanyThe Mercers’ CompanyBarclays BankThe Council of Christians and JewsPortsmouth Cathedral

The Musicians’ CompanyThe Farriers’ CompanyThe Saddlers’ CompanyThe Armourers’ and Braziers’ CompanyThe Parish Clerks’ Company

Licentiate CertificatesThe Prime Warden presented aLicentiate Certificate to DavidWaight in recognition of his skills as ateacher.

Silver MedalsThe Prime Warden also presentedSilver Medals to James Blunt andPeter Crownshaw.

Bronze MedalsBronze Medals, presented by theRenter Warden Rodney Bole, wereawarded to Merv Allen, CourtAssistant Don Barker, and MichaelJacques.

Diplomas of MeritDiplomas of Merit were presentedby the Fourth Warden, Mr JohnShreeves, to Christopher Eade andBruce Wilcock.

Michaelmas Court Luncheon and Awards Ceremony

8

Over 170 members and guests attended theMichaelmas Court Lunch and Awards Ceremony

on 3rd October.

The Blacksmith Army Cup wasawarded to Craftsman Candea Lopez.We were pleased that there had againbeen competition for this cup.

The Paul Allen Cup was awarded toAlex Moore. The Stanley AllcardCupwas presented to Jenny Pickford.These two cups were presented byPeter Allcard, Stanley Allcard’s son,our Third Warden.

CompanyAwards 2002-3The Court, as a result of therecommendations from the CraftCommittee, has since thepublication of the 22nd issue ofthe Newsletter agreed to make thefollowing Awards to activeBlacksmiths:Diploma of MeritMr J OakesJourneyman’s Certificate andCertificate of MeritMr Alan David Cooper

National Blacksmith Champion 2002In presenting the NationalChampionship Blacksmith award toLen Hutton, the Prime Wardenrecalled some of his happy memoriesof watching the Yorkshire andEngland opening batsman of thesame name playing in Test Matches inthe golden age of cricket in the late40’s and early 50’s.

Sir Denis Rooke our Principal guestpresents Tonypandy Award andIndustrial Certificates of Excellence

In welcoming the principal guest,Sir Dennis Rooke OM FRS FREng,the Prime Warden had reminded usthat Sir Denis had for 30 years ledthe gas industry through tremendoustechnological change and for 17 ofthose years he had successively beenChief Executive and Chairman ofBritish Gas. He was a foundermember of the Worshipful Companyof Engineers and currently wasChancellor of LoughboroughUniversity. It was with greatpleasure, therefore, that Sir Deniswas invited to present the IndustrialDiploma of Excellence to Ray Jonesof R. Jones & Co. and the Diplomaof Industrial Excellence and theTonypandy Cup to Phil Johnson ofP. Johnson & Co.

TonypandyAward 2002

y – October 2002

The Guild and the 21st Century

9

The Welsh Livery GuildLondon Liverymen in Wales formPrincipality Guild

Liveries, Guilds and Fraternitieshave for centuries existed inEurope being organisations to

protect craftsmen and the publicfrom exploitation and to maintainthe quality of their products. Theseinstitutions have existed for manytypes of craft since the twelfth centuryand they are known to have existed inNewcastle, Birmingham, Brussels andseveral other big cities. Mostly theyexisted to protect the interests of onecraft and many have ceased to existor have lost their relevance to thecraft because the craft has moved onor ceased to exist.

The greatest concentration of suchorganisations, which mostly becameknown as liveries, was and still isin London. Although most of theorganisations were formed centuriesago a number of new Liveries wereformed at the end of the twentiethcentury.

One exception to these generalrules is “The Welsh Livery Guild”formed in 1990. It was formed by agroup of London Liverymen residingin Wales and has the objective of

promoting the skills and associatedprofessional activities in the arts, andany inter-disciplinary science andtechnology combination of thesesubjects, particularly in Wales.

The following extract from “TheJournal of the City and Guilds CollegeAssociation” summarises the currentactivities of the Guild.

The College of Arms granted the Guild LettersPatent in 1995

“The primary aim is to promote high standards of vocational skills, through awardsfor basic and further education, and vocational achievements. Educational andcharitable activities include traditional guild apprenticeships, supervised byLiverymen. The Guild also encourages the further education of Liverymen, byholding an annual lecture and by arranging visits to see the work of centres ofexcellence, including industrial visits to manufacturers. Meetings and social eventsare organised throughout Wales, for Liverymen, to encourage an exchange ofinformation and ideas.”

“An example of collaboration with other organisations is the Welsh Livery Guild’ssupport of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Engineering Education Scheme inWales. The scheme, known as “Head Start” in England and “Summer School” inWales, gives bright 6th form (first year) students a one-week residential course at aUniversity. The object is to encourage them to consider taking an engineering courseat University and help them identify the most appropriate course. The Guild’s awardof £500 towards the scheme has enabled four Welsh students to attend in 2001.”

“On 23 July 2001, HRH the Prince of Wales was installed as the first HonoraryRoyal Freeman of the Guild. In a ceremony, Prince Charles was presented with hisbadge of office and deed of appointment. The Prince said he was delighted to take onhis new role, and looked forward to supporting the Guild and its activities.”

Précised from The Journal of City and Guilds College Association

CompanionshipThe Father awarded the Certificateof Companionship of the Companyto Miss Amina Chatwin. Thispresentation was accompanied bywarm applause from the audienceand Amina made an unplanned, yetclearly heartfelt speech of deepgratitude to The Company.

The Company was pleasedto welcome theMaster and Clerk

of the Engineers’ Companyand the

Master and Clerkof the Loriners’ Company

to the lunch

News in Brief

10

In his notice for the above event the Clerk pointed out thatDrapers’ Hall occupies the site which was once part of anAugustinian Priory on which Thomas Cromwell built hispalace in the 1530’s. After his execution it was bought bythe Guild of Drapers in 1543. It was rebuilt after the GreatFire but it was partially destroyed again by fire in 1773,rebuilt and altered in the late 19th century.

Liverymen and their guests, totalling 58, who took theopportunity to see this beautiful Hall were notdisappointed. Initially the buffet and wine were served inthe Court Dining Room. This contains a recent portrait ofthe Queen by Segei Pavlenko. It was commissioned tocelebrate the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty’s admissionto the Freedom by Patrimony of the Company.

After an introductionbyMissPennyFussel, theArchivist,

weproceeded to theCourtRoomwhich isdominatedby twoLouis XV Bobelin tapestries depicting the legend of theGolden Fleece. The room also contains portraits of the Dukeof Wellington and Admiral Lord Nelson, the latter was aLiveryman of the Drapers’ Company.

The buffet and wine were continually served as weprogressed into the magnificent Livery Hall with itspriceless collection of royal portraits. The ceiling paintingsdepicting scenes from Shakespearean plays and theremarkable weather vane were drawn to our attention. Wewere then able to relax in the comfort of the Drawing Roombefore inspecting the silver vaults.

We were most grateful to the Clerk, Archivist, Beadleand all their staff for such a warm welcome.

EBG

Reception at Drapers Hall 22nd October 2002

A bequest of £25,000 from the late Liveryman Peter Wolfwhich at his request is to be used for Charitable purposesand has been added to the Charitable Trust.

Artefacts regarding the effects of Miss Evadna Brackett.In July 2002 we were advised that Miss Brackett was tomove into a nursing home and that she wished to giveitems of silver, all bearing the Coat of Arms of TheWorshipful Company of Blacksmiths, to The Company.Unfortunately, before the pieces could be delivered toThe Company Miss Brackett died, but thanks to theco-operation of her Executors, The Company received thefollowing items: a pair of silver sauce boats by Mappin &Webb, 1935; replica of the Blacksmiths Cup, A & H,London 1931; seven bar toast rack, H A, Sheffield, 1938;card waiter, A & H, London, 1932; pepper mill in lantern

form,Mappin & Webb, London;muffin dish and cover byMappin & Webb, London, 1936. These items are all heldwith our other treasures at Painter Stainers’ Hall.

The links between the Brackett family and TheWorshipful Company of Blacksmiths go back many yearsas Arthur Brackett was Prime Warden in 1948 andFrederick Brackett was Prime Warden in 1949 and 1950.

William Brackett was admitted to the Livery in 1956 andis the third most senior Liveryman in The Company.

A cup from Mrs Pamela Lister being a replica of theBlacksmiths’ Cup owned by the late Past Prime WardenRaymond Lister.

A cup from Mrs Russ Webb, wife of the late LiverymanJohn Webb, to be presented to an outstanding student atWarwick College each year.

The Court on behalf of The Company has been pleased to receive the following gifts and bequests

Liverymen’s knowledge of the CityThe Lord Mayor emphasises the importance of Liverymen knowingthe history of the City and of their Company in particular

The Lord Mayor, in his recent addressto Masters, Prime Wardens andClerks, emphasised that it wasimportant that Liverymen should be

aware of the history, the origins andpurpose of the Livery Companies andthe history of the City.

To assist Liverymen to become

aware of the history, the City lecturesare put on from time to time. Detailsof these can be obtained from theClerk.

The Court has agreed that The Company should make acontibution to the expenses of the visit of The Companyof Pikemen and Musketeers who will accompany theLord Mayor on his forthcoming visit to America.

Visit of Pikemen and Musketeers to America Company Cuff LinksThe Clerk has a stock of the recently commissionedCompany Cuff Links. They display, in gold and blackenamel, three coroneted hammers and the gold chevron.They are mounted on a swivel fixing and cost £49.50 per set

Books on Blacksmithing, formerly belonging to Colin Gilpin, have been purchased by The Company and The Companyhas loaned them to the Warwickshire College.

11

Les Armstrong, son of ablacksmith, was born inHopway, a small Staffordshire

village, which lies in hilly woodlandbetween Tamworth and Lichfield. Hischildhood was spent playing aroundthe local farms and woodland, ridingponies, fishing and playing footballon a piece of grassland known as theBlack Patch.

Les went to school at Wilnecote,Warwickshire, which was a five milecycle ride from his home. Everymorning he would stop at the forge ofMr. Hinton on Blue Brick Hill andwatch him, already sweating as heforged items to keep the machinery ofthe local Wilnecote Brick works andDoulton Insulators in good repair, “Ofall the jobs in the world this is theonly one that I do not want to do”.

Apprentice ToolmakerOn leaving school in 1964, Les took

an apprenticeship as a toolmakerwith Brown and Holmes in RoseyCross, Tamworth. Part of his traininginvolved blacksmithing.

At the age of 21, Les went to workfor Neville Smith Blacksmiths andFarriers at the United Kingdom Yardin Willenhall, West Midlands. Thiswas a small but extremely busy forge,making bules for carrying cruciblesand mending casting boxes for theadjacent Grey Iron Foundry. He wasoften required to work on the massivecupola furnace which was theepicentre of this Dante’s Inferno.Molten metal splashed like wateramid a shower of a million meteoricsparks. The great jaws created adeafening sound as they constantlyblasted air through the tuyeresdriving a melt, withstanding thesewith the steam and dust from castingsand was an incredible experience.

Farriery ExperienceThe United Kingdom Forge was

worked by extremely experiencedand diversely skilled smiths. Nevillewas national champion farrier in1963-64 and 1965 (the only times heever entered the competition). Thesteady and endless stream of horsesto the forge, including van horses forshow, together with the forging of

tongs for the many drop-forgingcompanies around the black country,kept them constantly busy. In 1975,Les was awarded the R.S.S.qualification (Registered Shoe Smith)after examination by the worshipfulCompany of Farriers at the RoyalArmy Veterinary Centre.

In 1977 Les left Neville to start hisown business at Friars forge in thevillage of Grendon in Warwickshireshoeing horses for the localAtherstone hunt. He also shoed theShire horses belonging to the NationalCoal Board, these including “HobartLong John” standing 19 hands 1.1/2inches to the wither, the largest horsein England. He was then awardedA.W.C.F. (Associate of the WorshipfulCompany of Farriers in 1986 afterexamination at Hertford School ofFarriery. A keen competitor, he wonthe Midland Counties Championshipand the silver medal of theWorshipful Company of Farriers in1985 at Cromford in Derbyshire.

Industrial Blacksmithing ExperienceThe business grew and investment

in a Blacker power hammer sawa diversification into industrialsmithing. 1998 saw a relocation fromFriars Forge to Lichfield RoadIndustrial Estate. The farrier side ofthe business was sold off in 2000allowing the business to concentrateon servicing its industrial customers.The year 2000 also saw the businessacquiring ISO 9002 accreditation oneof the few blacksmiths to attain thestandard. It has been a consciousdecision for Les to specialise inproducing bent, forged and formedcomponents for industry, which posea degree of difficulty in manufacture.This is to lessen the possibility ofloss of business during recession,when competition is strongest, butwhen competitors are least likely to

want to quote against this typeof work. Some of the technicaldifficulties dictate the steelpurchased direct from the rollingmills in coils of specific weight. Inaddition, in order to ensure constantbehaviour of the metal in the forge,the actual machines at the steelworkswere sometimes specified.

Les recently won a contract forthe manufacture of forged bulkheadfittings, for the refurbishment ofH.M.S. Nottingham. He alsomanufactures forged engine mountsfor Dennis Specialist Vehicles (DennisFire engines), together with pressforged engine mountings for dieselrailway locomotives.Another contractis for stainless steel tubular ringsand for the burners of Lindstrandhot air balloons. All of which keepsthe workforce of 10 busy all yearround.

Les is not only proud to be amember of the Blacksmiths Livery butwas honoured by being the firstliveryman of the new millennium. Heis also a Liveryman of the WorshipfulCompany of Farriers and serves asVice President of the NationalAssociation of Farriers, Blacksmithsand Agricultural Engineers. Bydoing this he hopes to strengthenthe links between the trade and thecompany, with a view to putting alittle back into the trade which hasserved him well.

Les Armstrong Liveryman Blacksmith No. 5

12

www.blacksmithscompany.org.ukPublished by: The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths. Printed by: Addiscan Graphics Limited, 12A Cowper Road, Bromley, Kent BR2 9RX

Looking Back The Prime Warden’s Diary in 2002-2003

There have been a number of cases where a son has afteran interval succeeded his father as Prime Warden butthere is no record of father and son contributing to thefunctioning of the Company at the same time. Arthurand Richard Sage therefore go down in the records of theCompany as making a unique contribution.

Arthur became a Liveryman in 1975 and secretary ofthe Craft Committee in 1993, a position he held until theend of 2002. He became responsible for organisingexperienced blacksmiths to assess thestandard of work submitted byapplications for Company Awards.

One of the first tasks put beforeArthur when he became secretary wasa long-standing requirement for aNational Directory of Blacksmiths.Arthur produced a draft but, when theCommittee requested that in additionto addresses etc the Directory shouldinclude information on the type of blacksmithing(engineering, traditional, contemporary, etc.) blacksmiths

undertook, Arthur’s facilities became strained. Fortunatelyhis son, Richard, who had been apprenticed to his father

from 1984 to 1990, with hissuperior computer knowledgearrived on the scene at thismoment. He took over theDirectory, established a web sitefrom which the information onthe blacksmiths in the directorycan now be obtained. Richard isnow Web Master and has also putmuch other information about theCompany on the Web site.

In 1988 Arthur became secretary of the Publicityand Publications Committee and Co Editor of theNewsletter. In December he resigned as secretaryof the Committee but remains Co Editor of theNewsletter. In 2002 when Arthur was temporarilyindisposed Richard supervised the completion of the

partially prepared 20th issue. In 2002 Richard became amember of the Finance Committee.

Father and Son Contribute to work ofThe Company’s CommitteesUnique family contribution to the administration of The Company

Since his election at the end of July 2002 Barry Graham has attended many functions on behalf of the Company. These have included:Society of Apothecaries DinnerShrieval Chain Presentation

LectureLightmonger Company LuncheonElection of the Lord MayorMusicians Company EvensongMusicians Company DinnerHMS Sultan DinnerNETS Award, Hereford PresentationREME Dinner

Museum of London ReceptionLord Mayor’s Show(including review of procession and Lunch)Lord Mayor’s Banquet for the GovernmentLord Mayor’s Appeal LaunchLord Mayor’s Address to Masters, PrimeWardens, the Upper Bailiff and ClerksCutlers Company DinnerPewterers Company DinnerGuild of Freemen Banquet

Lectures sponsored by theMarketors Company, the MusiciansCompany and the City UniversityCity University Annual Meeting

There were also two Companyevents, namely the reception atDrapers Hall and the Carol Service

Agricultural Showsin which WCB is involved in collaboration with theNational Blacksmiths’ Competition Committee in 2003

Looking Forward

North Somerset 5 May www.north-somerset-show.org.ukDevon County 15-17 May www.devoncountyshow.co.ukRoyal Bath & West 28-31 June www.bathandwest.co.uk*South of England 5-7 June www.seas.org.ukThree Counties 13-15 June www.threecounties.co.ukEast of England 13-15 June www.eastofengland.org.ukRoyal Highland 19-22 June www.rhass.org.uk*Royal Norfolk 25-26 June www.norfolkshowground.com

Worshipful Company FunctionsHouse of Lords Luncheon Tuesday, 6 MayMidsummer Court & Luncheon Thursday, 26 JuneMichaelmas Court & Awards Luncheon Thursday, 2 OctoberCarol Service Friday, 19 December

Calendar for 2003Royal Show 29 June-2 July www.royalshow.org.uk*Great Yorkshire 8-10 July www.yorkshireshow.orgRoyal Welsh 21-23 July www.rwas.co.ukNew Forest & Hampshire 29-31 July www.newforestshow.co.uk*Edenbridge & Oxted 24-25 July no web address known

*Exhibition supported by The Company