FORGE AHEAD

Head to The Old Smithy at Mawnan Smith and discover a corner of contemporary craft makers keeping old traditions alive

Blink on your way to the National Trust’s famous gardens of Trebah and Glendurgan near Falmouth and you could miss Mawnan Smith. For centuries this village was renowned for its many smithies, which gave the village its name, which served the many stages that went through on their way across the Helford River to the Lizard Peninsula. Of the four working Smithies serving 19 farms in the parish in 1851 – only one remained in the 20th century. For more than 100 years it was the centre of the village – operated by blacksmith Billy James and his son Dryden until Dryden’s death in 1994 when the Smithy doors were closed and the building and its contents went into hibernation.

But the building’s decline was lamented by many locals who watched this important landmark slowly decay. And while demand for blacksmiths was low at the turn of the millennium, there was plenty of demand for artist’s studios. And so in 2002 a project was launched to restore the Grade 2-listed building to its former glory and make the anvil ring once more – in the service of fused metal sculptor Nigel Wells.

Wells specialises in hand forming sheet metal craft using traditional cold and hot forging techniques sculptures, which begin with a sketch by his artist wife and are then developed into cardboard patterns. In between sculpting fish (which he is best known for) and roses, he is always happy to make visitors a cup of tea, shake hands and chat about the history of the building.