This was a brilliant day. Arian firstly showed us the basics of blacksmithing and we then practised the techniques to produce a sample piece. There were four of us on the workshop and we each had an anvil. There were two forges and so there was no queueing for anvil/forge. Having made our sample pieces we then decided on our main project of the day. What was great about this day was we were able to decide on the object. I chose to make a pair of tongs and the other three people chose quite different products. Arian was very supportive in us choosing what we wanted to make and gave valuable advice throughout. The split between talk and learning through doing was just right. The refreshments provided through the day were very welcome. I appreciated that the workshop didn't finish on the dot at 4.30 but we were able to continue to complete our projects. To summarise - thank you Arian for a really enjoyable day when you taught us a number of techniques and for your patience when things didn't quite go to plan.