Showing posts with label blacksmithing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blacksmithing. Show all posts

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Heart’s Content Rendell Forge Opening Hours July 27 – Aug 5, 2022

Rendell Forge

Heart’s Content Rendell Forge Opening Hours July 27 – Aug 5, 2022
Our blacksmith for this summer, Sarah MacAulay, is currently doing training in Ontario and will be opening the forge July 27, just in time for Come Home Out Of It activities in Heart's Content. Please see the following schedule and share with friends!

Sarah MacAulay, Blacksmith Apprentice.

(Note: The Rendell Forge, Main Road, Heart’s Content, has been recently restored by the Heart’s Content Mizzen Heritage Society and Heritage NL with financial assistance from the provincial government’s Come Home Year 2022 funding. It will be closed from July 2-26 for blacksmith training and will be open to the public during the following times. Watch for more openings for later in August.)

July 27, 2-6 pm

July 28, 10-3 pm*

July 29, 10-1pm

July 30, closed

July 31, 2-6 pm (3-4 pm demo basic hooks and points) 

August 1, 9-4 pm (11-1 pm demo one prong fire poker) *

August 2, 11-1 pm (demo basic knife blade)

August 3, 11-1 pm (demo scroll work/decorative spiral work)

August 4, 11-1 pm (demo fire poker)

August 5, 11-1 pm (demo fine work- hair pins)

*The forge will be closed from 1-2 pm for lunch each day

To learn more about the history of the Rendell Forge, and the Rendell family of blacksmiths read our fieldnote about the forge here!

Ian Gillies and Sarah MacAulay. 

Ian Gillies, Blacksmith Mentor.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Saving Endangered Crafts: Introducing Heritage NL's Newest Batch of Mentor-Apprentice Participants

Mentor and apprentice pair Jennifer Morgan and Virginia Stoddart in Jennifer's printing studio. 

From birch brooms to beading, traditional skills at risk of being lost in Newfoundland and Labrador just got a boost from Heritage NL.

Twenty new projects from all across the province that pair a learner with an experienced craftsperson have been given the green light by Heritage NL, the provincial agency that deals with historic places and living heritage. This adds to a set of partnerships established earlier in the year.

The Heritage NL Mentor-Apprentice Program is a one-on-one immersion program that provides funding up to $10,000 to support the teaching of endangered crafts and skills from an established mentor to an apprentice craftsperson or tradesperson.

“The traditional craft sector is an important part of our contemporary economy, especially in rural areas,” says folklorist Dale Jarvis, Executive Director of Heritage NL. “We are excited to support these tradition bearers and entrepreneurs in learning and promoting skills and crafts that otherwise might fade away.”

The participants will have up to a year to work together, teaching and learning a variety of skills including spruce root basket making, blacksmithing, coopering, and sealskin work. Applications for this pilot program are now closed. For more information about the Heritage NL Craft at Risk List or Mentor-Apprentice Program see heritagenl.ca/programs/craft-at-risk/.

This program is supported by the Labour Market Partnerships program, Department of Immigration, Skills and Labour, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The approved mentor/apprentice projects are as follows:

Beadwork
Mentor Bonnie Miller, Norris Arm North, with apprentice Starlynn Shears-Osmond, Grand Falls-Windsor.

Blacksmithing
Mentor Ian Gillies, Conception Bay South, with apprentice Sarah MacAulay, Mount Pearl;
and
Mentor Dennis Flood, Change Islands, with apprentice Timothy Penton, Joe Batt’s Arm.

Coopering
Mentor Lester Cooper, Trinity, with apprentice Darren Hookey, Trinity.

Bodhran making (Irish frame drum)
Mentor Paddy Mackey, Flatrock, with apprentice Bryan Poirier, St. John’s.

Komatik building (winter sled with runners)
Mentor Adam Greening, Port Blandford, with apprentice Joey Efford, Port Blandford;
and
Mentor Walter Fowler, Capstan Island, with apprentice Peter Fowler, South Branch;
and
Mentor Alfred Winters, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with apprentice David Chaulk and Francine Winters, Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Letterpress printing
Mentor Duncan Major, St. John’s, with apprentice Katie Butler Major, St. John’s;
and
Mentor Jennifer Morgan, St. John’s, with apprentice Virginia Stoddard, Bay Bulls;
and
Mentor Marnie Parsons, Tors Cove, with apprentice Abigail Hann, Port Blandford.

Mi’kmaq style moccasins
Mentor Loretta John, Conne River, with apprentice Kevin Drew, Conne River.

Millinery
Mentor Charlotte Reid, St. John’s, with apprentice Erica Dawe, St. John’s.

Running birch brooms
Mentor Richard Park, Gillams, with apprentice Michelle Park, Corner Brook.

Sealskin work including slippers and mittens
Mentor Barb Rumbolt, Mary’s Harbour, with apprentice Niki Greeley, Mary’s Harbour.

Spruce root basket making
Mentor Eileen Murphy, Corner Brook, with apprentice Sandi Yates, Gillams.

Weaving skills
Mentor Morgaine Parnham, Bonavista, with apprentice Sylvie Mitford, Bonavista.

Window/Door Making
Mentor David Winsor, Broad Cove, with apprentice Ben Marx, St. John’s.

Wriggle fence building
Mentor Guy Barnable, Ferryland, with apprentice Eric Escudero, St. John’s;
and
Mentor Jody Chaulk, Bloomfield, with apprentice Gracie Russell, Lethbridge.


For more information or photos, contact:

Dale Jarvis
Heritage NL
dale@heritagenl.ca
https://heritagenl.ca/programs/craft-at-risk/ 

Stay tuned to Heritage NL's social media for updates on our Mentor-Apprentice program!

Photo submitted by Niki Greeley.
Niki is an apprentice in sealskin work including slippers and mittens. 

Tacking the skin on a bodhran drum. Photo submitted by Paddy Mackey.
Paddy is a mentor for instrument making, specifically bodhran drums. 

Ian Gillies with an anvil in Rendell's Forge in Heart's Content.
Ian is a blacksmith mentor.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Penton Forge, Joe Batt's Arm

Penton Forge, October 2021.

During the first week of October, Andrea and I were on the road. We visited Change Islands to do a People, Places and Culture workshop and Fogo Island to do some fieldwork. During our visit we stopped in to the Penton Forge in Joe Batt's Arm.

Penton Forge, circa 1970s.

This forge was built in the 1930s, and used until the 1970s. We met with Madonna Penton who had reached out about the forge. Her late husband Leo, and his younger brother Tim worked on getting the forge back up and running.

Leo with some of his grandchildren digging up horseshoes from the ash bed.

Tim is continuing the work on the forge including installing clapboard on the outside. Leo and Tim's grandfather Peter Penton who was trained by another local blacksmith, Jimmy Besso.

Peter Pentons certificate dated in 1940.

This short video shows some older photos of Penton Forge, and shares some of the memories of the blacksmith shop.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

The Death of Mrs. Leah Rendell, Heart's Content, 1913




Yesterday, we posted a story by Ted Rowe about the Rendell Forge and a picture as it was in 2003. Above is a photo I took of the same building.  You can see the roofline has changed, and the siding was replaced with cedar shakes (shingles). The trees have grown up dramatically behind the building.

The other photo that Ted shared was of the Rendell boys at the time of their mother's funeral in 1913. Below is a copy of the article that ran in the Evening Telegram, 1913-09-30:



We will have more on the Rendell Forge in the future! 


Friday, May 22, 2020

Ian Gillies, Newfoundland Blacksmith - An interview with folklorist Dale Jarvis

Ian Gillies, Newfoundland Blacksmith, chats with folklorist Dale Jarvis about his forge in Brigus South, how he got started with blacksmithing, materials and techniques, colour, coal, and creativity!


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Old gates in historic Harbour Grace, Newfoundland

I spent a couple hours this morning, walking around the heritage district and surrounding neighbourhood of Harbour Grace, Conception Bay. I'm giving a presentation to the town tomorrow on cultural mapping and inventorying of heritage resources, so I just wanted to see what I could see.

One of the things that jumped out at me was how many properties still maintain their old gates, some of which are of a very similar style. Some of these were possibly constructed by Art Tapp, a blacksmith who "fashioned many of the iron gates and fences in the district" (Harbour Grace Heritage District Report, HFNL, 1992).

A very preliminary walk-around revealed a large number of wrought iron gates and fences standing, some possibly Tapp's work, others of later periods. To give you a sense of numbers and variety of styles, a selection of photographs follows, taken today, 6 May 2015.

























Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Hauling Pinkston's Forge: Heritage Building On the Move in Brigus



I've written before about the Pinkston's Forge in Brigus, Conception Bay. The Brigus Historical Society has been working to document it's oral history and stories. The photo above, from July 28th, 2014, shows Muriel Pinkston Wells, John Pinkston, and interviewer Dale Russell Fitzpatrick --  you can read and listen to their interview on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative (DAI).

It has been important to the Brigus Historical Society to document what they can about the forge, because the building had to be removed from its original location. Yesterday, December 15th, was moving day. The building had been covered in plywood to keep it together during the move, and hoisted up onto a sledge made of long wooden poles. A local company was hired to facilitate the move, and a crowd gathered to watch the old blacksmith shop be hauled to its new home near the Brigus Stone Barn museum. The old forge squeaked over the little bridge near Hawthorne Cottage, with only inches to spare on either side, and was then dragged to the new concrete pad that had been erected to receive the forge.

CBC has story on the move, and you can check out some photos on YouTube.


Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Documenting Pinkston's Forge in Brigus


On Monday of this week, I travelled to Brigus to help the Brigus Historical Society with their work of documenting the history of Pinkston's Forge.

Pinkston's Forge has been a fixture of the community for a long time, and up to now has been in the hands of the Pinkston family. But maintaining a heritage building like the forge has been a challenge for the family, and the forge itself sits on a lovely piece of corner property. Recently, the family has decided they want to develop the property, but were concerned about the potential loss of the forge. So, the family has decided to turn the building over to the town, on the condition that it be moved.

Moving a heritage building from its original location is rarely the first choice for heritage conservationists, and moving an old forge will pose challenges for the historical society, but it will ensure that the building sees a new life, and hopefully, more educational opportunities.




Local heritage volunteers will be working on the documentation of the building and artefacts, and the ICH office has offered to help with collecting the associated oral histories of the building. On Monday, we helped with the first interview. The photo above shows (l-r) Muriel Pinkston-Wells and John Charles Pinkston, whose father and grandfather started the blacksmithing business, along with  local heritage consultant Dale Russell-Fitzpatrick, who conducted the oral history interview.

We’ll be posting more on the project as it unfolds.


If you have a memory of Pinkston's Forge, email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or comment below.

- Dale Jarvis