Rushden Echo & Argus, 28^th January 1949, transcribed by Kay Collins

Blacksmith's Craft Revived

For the last few weeks, inside the smoke-blackened walls of Rushden's old-fashioned blacksmith s shop, a craftsman has been proving that nine years of war has not blunted his skill.

Long lengths of mild steel, I heated until they glowed white, have been manipulated in his experienced hands until they have become a thing of beauty — decorative gates which will please the eye of the traveller when they are placed in position along some country road.

The construction of the gate, at first sight a simple matter, is a milestone in the history of Rushden's old smithy that fitted the iron­work in the stairway of Rushden Council Buildings.

For when war came along, iron was urgently needed, artists in metal could no longer spend their time on decorative work. Even worse, examples of their craft, on which they had spent many hours of careful labour, were torn down and became simply scrap for the war effort.

Many Admirers

Throughout the war, while the young men were away, there was plenty to occupy those who stayed behind, but no task which gave the public in general a chance to appreciate a blacksmith's skill. Now, at last, steel has come "off the ration" and the gates stand outside the shop for all passers-by to admire.

To "Bill" Stanbridge, the 42-year-old smith whose work will stand for all to see until the time when wind and rain crumble the metal to dust, the intricate whorls and curves twisted and turned, assume shape under his hammer and tongs. There is no complicated machinery, just a forked piece of metal held in a vice.

Looking at the pair of gates, more than six feet tall and four feet wide, "Bill" said simply, "I don't use anything other than a hammer. There is no pattern or anything. I just know by eye if I am right. If you look closely you will that the sizes of the metal pieces vary. They have to fit in the handle and so on. But you don't want to be too regular, or the gate is simply reduced to the value of a machine-made thing right away."

"Bill" started with the firm as a 14-year-old apprentice, and the gates on which he has spent 200 hours gave him an opportunity to see if he had lost his skill while in the Royal Marines in Burma and Malaya. The tricks of trade he inherited from his father were not forgotten; he looks forward to his son following in his footsteps.

The village smithy is still there
Busy industrial town though it is, Rushden has many marks of the village which it was.

Close to the Hall is still to be found the smithy, and though heavy lorries rumble by outside, horses still come to be shod as they did in the coaching days, and there is a brisk demand for agricultural work. Mrs M A Ginns carries the business on, and in this picture Jimmy Guinee is busy on a shoeing job.