{"id":909,"date":"2026-09-18T15:23:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=909"},"modified":"2026-09-18T15:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:23:07","slug":"forging-a-new-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=909","title":{"rendered":"Forging a new path"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hey Blog! I\u2019ve decided to write this post about one of the best chances I have had this year \u2013 one that keeps going and getting better with every week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a very long time ago that I told you about making my own poker at High Peak Junction. As in, three years ago. But. I have returned \u2013 and it\u2019s all thanks to an advert which asked for young people interested in heritage and blacksmithing, who would be keen to undertake a volunteer apprenticeship in blacksmithing at the forge. Obviously, this was right up my street. Exactly. Therefore, I applied \u2013 along with 44 other people, apparently, and made it to the interview stage. I evidently carried myself well through the interview, because I got one of only two places. I can\u2019t remember what I told them at this stage, but it seems the blacksmith and admin person from the council both liked what I had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I should say at this point, the forge is run by the council after they took over the historic buildings of the Cromford and High Peak Railway after it was dissolved. The forge is in the oldest surviving railway workshop in the world, as we tell all visitors \u2013 there is a workshop in Wales which is the oldest in continuous use, but ours is the oldest building; it predates the railways themselves. The notch cut in the keystone of the front door was made to allow steam engine funnels to enter the building, because when the doorway was made, there were no steam trains! The building itself is full of a thousand little quirks that make working there a delight, even without getting to hit things with hammers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There isn\u2019t time for the technicalities of blacksmithing, and even if there was, I\u2019m still only an apprentice. For all my top grade in chemistry, it doesn\u2019t cover the full details of ironworking \u2013 and obviously not how it feels to work with in the hand. STOP DON\u2019T TOUCH I didn\u2019t mean hold literally red-hot metal in the hand. You hold that bit with tongs. Incidentally, I prefer the old style tongs to the modern mole grips; they clamp better and are longer so you don\u2019t get as hot. They rely on your holding them rather than a grip you can\u2019t regulate. The old blacksmiths knew what worked and what they were doing! We\u2019ve even discussed doing a few weeks of toolmaking, following in the tradition of the previous smiths to work at the forge, who made most of the tools hanging up in the workshop. However, our only attempt at that \u2013 with an old campervan spring, which should be tool-grade steel \u2013 failed, probably because of flaws in the metal created over the 30 years it kept the campervan driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rambling above is an accurate representation, on a smaller scale, of the diversity of our conversations at the forge \u2013 me, Tony the official blacksmith, and Michael, the other young person who got a place, who it turns out I knew already\u2026 because he\u2019s also on the Derbyshire Scout Archaeology Youth Committee! Tony was also a Scout leader some years ago, so with three people engaged in Scouting, who love ironworking, are interested in history and heritage, and hold intriguing bits of knowledge which spills out into conversation, it\u2019s amazing fun. We\u2019ve started laughing over things like \u201cthe four way puff\u201d: what happens when you quench a square bar of steel slowly, and the steam comes shooting out from the four faces as it goes in; we\u2019ve discussed the prices for pirate body parts lost in combat; realised that our names fit with the main characters from a TV series neither of us young people has watched called Knight Rider; and there\u2019s always a handshake at the start and end of the day. I love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another exciting chance has also come through this, and it\u2019s just arrived in the local paper. The only time I\u2019ve read the Derby Telegraph is to see this article, but it\u2019s a good one \u2013 detailing our activities at the forge, with some good and some goofy pictures. At least the flat cap looks good in them! I suggest you give it a read, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.derbytelegraph.co.uk\/news\/derby-news\/meet-derbyshire-teenagers-keeping-age-11141811\">https:\/\/www.derbytelegraph.co.uk\/news\/derby-news\/meet-derbyshire-teenagers-keeping-age-11141811<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As it says, the position lasts for a year. So there\u2019ll be plenty more sessions in the forge, learning to make different things! I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hey Blog! I\u2019ve decided to write this post about one of the best chances I have had this year \u2013 one that keeps going and getting better with every week! It was a very long time ago that I told you about making my own poker at High Peak Junction. As in, three years ago. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-ed-in-a-shed-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Forging a new path - Home Ed in a Shed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Forging a new path - Home Ed in a Shed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hey Blog! 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