Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ Country Life’s Mark Leishman interviewing Colin Martin at Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop Duntroon Karan Lawrence
A visit to Duntroon’s original Victorian-era blacksmith shop is a visit back in time. Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop has been around for 125 years and, while these days it is a tourist attraction, it is still a hub for the Duntroon community of 100 or so residents.
Rather than making horseshoes, today it makes metal knick knacks, pokers for outdoor fires and key rings for children’s school bags.
The ramshackle wooden structure includes the original earthen floor. There is no need for a wooden floor because that could catch fire.
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Chairperson of the Nicol’s Blacksmith Historic Trust, Jan Keeling, said the shop had been lovingly restored and rescued.
She said the community had a dozen or so volunteers who kept the tourism industry going in the town and made sure the local businesses survived.
The pay off was locals were able to have a coffee and scone all year round.
She said there was much pride among locals at managing to keep the blacksmiths, built in 1900 featuring hand-pumped bellows, in working order.
“Prior to this building, a lot of the farms had their own forge, and the blacksmith would travel around working, shoeing horses or repairing or sharpening implements.”
Master saddler and farrier Steve Smith shoeing Brook the gig horse at Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop in Duntroon Karan Lawrence
Keeling remembers when Duntroon was well off the beaten track, but that all changed about a dozen years ago.
Cyclists started arriving as the Alps To Ocean Cycle Trail added Duntroon to its list of stops.
She said the cycle trail had been a game-changer and amazing for the community.
“We have volunteers working here, creating things to sell in our little shop because the shop still runs on the smell of coal dust.”
The Duntroon Heritage Trail was created to honour the 150th anniversary of Duntroon last year.
Keeling said the smithy’s recent history was as important as its original history, with four local farmers getting together to buy it in the 1960s when they realised the building might be demolished.
With its forge, anvil and bellows, everything was in place and ready to go, but it sat there until 2005 when newcomer Mike Gray saw the potential and formed a trust.
It found a well-known restoration builder, Dave Barkman, who offered to come and live in Duntroon for a year. He literally pulled it to bits and rebuilt it like a jigsaw puzzle.
Judy Waterstone was the present-day chief blacksmith at Nicol’s shop with 25 years experience.
As “bellows boy” Colin Martin pointed out, the blacksmiths was predominantly run by women.
“This is quite a unique blacksmith shop. When you look around, we’ve got two lady blacksmiths with Mary an apprentice, and I’m just a bellows boy,” he said.
“And there’s a reason for that old saying about too many irons in the fire,” Waterstone added.
“Many a time I’ll try and do two pieces at once, and it’s fine as long as you keep that momentum up, but the moment you don’t, one burns, and is ruined because there’s too many irons.”
Leaving the huff and puff of the blacksmith shop, I headed over the back fence to meet Steve Smith, who, at 74 is a Master Saddler, one of only six in New Zealand.
The former freezing worker loves Clydesdale horses and decided, after having trouble finding suitable riding tack, he would try and make the harnesses and saddles himself.
So he travelled to Salisbury in the United Kingdom and learned from the best saddlers in the business.
Duntroon’s Master Sadler Steve Smith Jo Raymond
Just like a Savile Row suit-maker, Smith made each saddle to measure and it all started with a wooden tree or frame.
It was covered with heavy, bovine skirting leather, sheepskin padding and more softer leathers for the seat, skirts, and fenders or flaps.
Rather than using a sewing machine, Smith hand sews the leather onto the tree, finally stamping or carving designs into the leather and adding silver trim and stencilling his name on the flap.
Each saddle was worth around $3000 and took 50 hours to create.
Smith would like to retire.
“I’d love to be able to teach somebody, but nobody seems to be interested. For a young fellow or woman who had a bit of skill with their hands and motivation, it would be a pretty good sort of career.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand