Blacksmiths Forge On Kingston Road, Ewell

A Memory of Ewell.

Further to Pat Dickinson's memories....... I remember it vividly,especially the roaring fire and clanging iron -,the way the huge (to me) horses stood so still. We used to stop on our way home from school. There was always a knot of kids hanging in the doorway,staring fascinated. It was opposite the Hogsmill river. There was a little dirt path that led alongside a brick cottage, to the forge. On the right, was a wooden fence with a painted sign that said 'Private, only to Earnest Cottages', which were further up the path on the left, past the forge.....a row of about five or six small cottages. Presumably they backed onto the 'eight bells'. I went to 'West Street' school, and we lived round the corner on Beggars Hill. I was six or seven at the time,and remember so much more!


Added 16 May 2012

#236460

Comments & Feedback

I remember going into the Forge as a schoolgirl in the 1950s. The blacksmith told us to sit on a large block. The fire glowed red hot and a large bay carthorse waited patiently to be shoe. The blacksmith put a piece of metal into the fire and when it was red hot he beat it into a horseshoe on an anvil using a heavy hammer. Then he lifted the horse's leg and using tongs placed the red hot shoe on the horse's hoof. We were amazed that the horse showed no reaction as clouds of smoke billowed around his hoof. The blacksmith hammered nails to fix the shoe to the horse's hoof and still the horse stood calm. A picture of this experience has stayed in my mind ever since.

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