Yesterday I found an old horseshoe, it is bent, buckled and rusty, old. It was in one of the local barley fields. Treasure.
Our old village blacksmith died a few years ago, his family had been wheelwrights and blacksmiths for many generations, unfortunately he had no one to pass the business on to.
Everything was auctioned.
This is how the place used to look, back in the days when he was still able to make gates, weather vanes, etc.
This is the day before the sale, preview day.
People came from all over, including me.
I admit I went out of curiosity, I wanted to see inside a forge.
It was a sad occasion, I didn't stay long.
Everything came with a fair bit of rust and the patina of past usefulness.
There were racks and stacks of this and that. No doubt much of it will have gone for scrap.
Miss Read told us a little anecdote about the blacksmith - and how, during the war they had a contract to supply the Army with one thousand 'donkey-shoes'. They all had to be exactly the same size, any that were even marginally different were not accepted.
Who'd have thought that every donkey came with standard-sized hooves!!!!!
Madness.
They fulfilled their contract, but only once.
It was far more trouble than it was worth.
The blacksmith's house has been bought and is in the process of being renovated.
The sheds remain, for the time being.
They tilt a little more under the weight of ivy.
No doubt one of these days they will be removed and things will move on.
As they do.
I shall keep this rusty, bent, old horseshoe - cart horse sized (non-standard) - treasure it as a keepsake of the old village blacksmith, for almost certainly it would have been made just along the road, by Eric - or his father, possibly his grandfather, or an uncle...
Have a lovely weekend.
Ohhh yes! A treasure!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful post, about the history of your area. Complete with a memory, from the WW era.
Same size for all donkeys. *Brilliant*! Lucky, those who placed this order, were not in charge, of winning the whole War! It might not have worked out, as well!!!
Elaine, could I please ask a question....? About my Blog?
ReplyDeleteAre new posts, on my blog, showing up, on your Blog Feed?
I ask because, my Stat Counter shows no Visits _even_, since 4 on 4/18 Wednesday. And I have been getting 35, 22, 38 Visits, before then. Very, very few comments. But not even Visits.
And I did post on April 15, 17, 19, 20 and 21.
I'd have asked this in email, but don't have your email addy.
Thank you.
Wisps of Words blog
Hello Luna, That was good timing, I've just come through to have a read. Whenever i click on your blog it comes up as ..........'Permission Denied'.......... It has been like that for a couple of days. It doesn't show any new posts in my reading list, either. Have you accidentally altered some privacy settings? The last post to show up is 4 days ago, "Sighhhhhhhhhhh" When I found the blog closed to me I just assumed that you were taking a little blogging break.
DeleteOh Dear Elaine, 2 other lovely friends told me, that my blog settings were mixed up! Just like you say.
DeleteAnd I came back, to tell you, that all is fixed again!!!!!!
I tried to make a private Page, on my blog. And doing so, must have made my whole blog _Private_!!! Nooooooooo... At least, that's what I figured had happened.
So I got rid of the Private Page, and checked settings, and I hope, all is back to normal again.
I've been blogging, since the last entry you could read, and this morning, did a post, about the huge difference in my Visitor Stats. I figured something was wrong... But could not check myself. So you sweet friends came through!
Learning, always learning! I must remember this.
Thank you again!
Btw, I'd never do that... Just gooooooo, without saying I was taking a blogging break!!! So sorry anyone had to see that. So sorry I was so un-techy.
What a sweet sentimental post... For sure the horse shoe is a good luck treasure and part of your local folklore/history...What a sad but interesting story too... My father, blacksmithed when he was young so I understand the art and process of forging ... It is definitely an dying art in various parts of the world....OMG ... Can you imagine creating one thousand ‘ donkey’ shoes !!!! How special to still have the village settings and buildings in close proximity ... I always enjoy a good historical walk and talk...I enjoyed my read today ...Thank You ...PS. I had the same experience at Luna’s blogsite too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this although there is always sadness when a life and livelihood comes to an end. I would consider the shoe a treasure, too, and it would go right on the old OH. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely reflection!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely find, but gosh it has been pushed close together at the heel end by a tractor or something. An old one, judging by the amount of corrosion. We have found several about the place here (from when it had working horses on the farm) and a little pony one which hung on the inglenook beam for many years.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am aware, donkeys' feet could vary a bit dependent on the size of the donkey! I hate the thought that some of those poor donks had their feet trimmed to fit the shoe (as was often the way many years ago for their equine counterparts).
What a sad sale at the blacksmith's forge - even the draw knife (for trimming feet) found a new home . . .