Basic blacksmithing course

martin peter harrison reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"This retirement birthday present was fantastic, great place. Very friendly and helped you with anything, but you still make it. I will do it again as I live quite near. Thanks for a great weekend "

Brett Gibson reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Fantastic Course with Gary & Josh, highly recommended."

Ross B reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"I attended this session with my eleven year old son and we had a great time. The tutors were excellent and helped just the right amount. We were responsible for attending to our own piece of metal, heating in the furnace, hammering and shaping. At each phase of the project (a blacksmiths knife) the tutor explained clearly the actions required to form the next part, including creating edges, quenching, tempering, sharpening and polishing. All in all a great parent/child experience!"

Gary reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"I don't normally write reviews but the one-day blacksmithing course was fantastic. Really good pace to the course. Fun! Rewarding! Would do more stuff like this in a blink of an eye. Thank you for a great day experience."

Sarah & Alan reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Brilliant day, Gary & Josh are great teachers with a lot of patience and knowledge. Very pleased with the items we made (with expert help). Josh took extra effort demonstrating how to do things with his non-dominant hand for the left hander :) "

Scott Ashton reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"I booked this for my best mates birthday and honestly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and I would recommend to anyone this is the place to go. It was worth any penny and me and my mate are already planning our next visit. Don’t even think twice it’s worth it and the laughs you will have while you're there make it even better."

Alistair reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Attended this course for a friend's birthday and had a great time. Jos and Gary were both polite, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. They managed to guide the four of us through making some simple but great-looking blacksmith's knives in the time we had. The instructions were very clear and both Gary and Jos were very patient and took the time to explain what was happening, as well as helping with all the equipment and stopping us making any mistakes. I can't recommend this course and location enough if you have any interest in blacksmithing, its a great day out, really fun, and you get the satisfaction of taking home something you've made yourself!"

Nicole reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"I booked this experience for my husband for a present and he came home last night, bubbling over at how wonderful it was. Honestly, I've never seen him this happy with something and he said he loved every single minute. So thank you, for giving him a day to remember and giving him a much needed boost. "

Gareth B reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Fantastic day with Gary and Jos at Friargate Forge. I have absolutely no experience and am usually rubbish at being creative, but the experts got me stuck straight in, helping to show me the ropes and allowing me to create a tomahawk axe within the day! Both were really knowledgable about how to do everything I needed to do and I was delighted with the end result! If you're trying to decide, book this course! You won't regret it."

Alison B reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

" Being Forged in Fire fans, I was disappointed that though many reviews said they created knives etc on the 1 day basic course, Gary said that was not possible. However, Gary was kind and reassuring in our emails regarding my daughters special needs and I was able to assure her the tutor was also on the spectrum so would understand and help her through the course. Sadly, on the day he called in to his assistant to say he was too tired to attend and so left us unexpectedly with his assistant Joss. Joss was very patient and we had a lovely day and my daughter created a fabulous letter opener but it was upsetting that we had to explain the issues again and we also had some language barrier issues but as I say Joss was very patient and a great teacher, especially given that he had not expected to be teaching the course that day. He was kind enough to let us parents stay to watch all day and we really appreciated that opportunity. The forge was very cold and facilities extremely basic but overall it was a fascinating day and great experience and my daughter created an amazing piece thanks to his patient instruction. "

Ruth reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"I booked this for my husband and his Dad as a birthday celebration. They had a brilliant day and came back with a beautiful garden ornament and knife. They’re both keen to get back and do more courses in the forge!"

Al. reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Had a great time at the forge - I’m a complete beginner and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to make at the start of the day (thought it would be either an axe or a crafting knife) but Gary and Jos helped massively in working out what could be done in the time and helped make it possible!! They’re super skilled and I only had to show them a couple of ideas that I googled in the morning and by the end of the day its there in your hand! Gary’s clearly really passionate about this work and making sure you have a great experience as well. If you’re a novice it’s definitely a great place to take your first steps with working with metal - I learnt loads, from the processes to different metals you can work with to all the different things you can make. I’m definitely going to be going again!! If you are brand new to this, here’s a couple of things I’d suggest: Do have a think about what you want to make in advance (maybe draw some sketches?) - I’m delighted with what I made, but if you’ve got a plan to work to it’s always that little bit easier right? Do wear boots if you’ve got them - I wore converse and whilst I didn’t have any issues, it is a workshop and so you wanna be wearing something workshop-y you know? Overall I thought it was great! Can’t wait to get back and get making the next thing."

Peter and John reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"What a great day! I booked this as a Christmas present for my Dad and I as a father / son day out. Gary was helpful with all booking details and great with advice on ideas for items to forge. We really enjoyed what came across as an authentic experience with Gary and Jos. These are 2 guys who have an obvious passion for sharing their expertise whilst letting you get really hands on in learning new skills. Dad and I both have amazing blacksmiths knives and the satisfaction of the work that went into making them. Whether you are a fan of the tv 'forged' shows or just fancy learning new skills, we would highly recommend Friargate Forge for a great experience."

Friargate Forge responded:

" Thank you, so happy you both enjoyed your time at the forge Thanks Gary"

Doreen reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Can't praise Gary enough, the day was fantastic, felt at ease straight away and he's a great teacher. Got finished the two projects i wanted to make, cooking tripod and fire steel, still had time left over to make a toasting fork. I will certainly be back to do the knife making course in the future and hopefully more."

Ben reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"Gary was incredibly understanding with autism in the forge. After I told him, he told me that he also had Asperger's syndrome, so he's able to relate to people who struggle with loud noises/sensory issues, both of which are large things in a forgery. Before we started, he explained a ton of stuff on what to/not to do, which kept me from getting burned multiple times. He even let us take a small block of metal of the same material as the axe we built home, so we could show what the axe came from. On top of that, we finished with a couple hours to spare, so he let us make a marshmallow-toasting fork, free of charge. The person I went with burnt her hand, because she grabbed the wrong end of a bar, and he immediately got the burns kit and made sure it was fine. Overall, a great experience, and highly recommended."

Rhianne Boag reviewed: Basic blacksmithing course

"If you could score more than 'Excellent' Gary would definitely get it..... Fantabulous, outstanding, wonderful and so much more. After contacting Gary to see if I could use a craft course voucher I also asked if I could extend the day to include my partner Scott. Gary was quick to reply, helpful and very much a pleasure to talk to. We turned up on the day a little bit nervous with a couple of ideas. Gary helped say what would be achievable and we set off, working together under Gary's expert guidance. Over the course of the day we made a hanging basket holder and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Gary was brilliant, never flustered when we made a few mistakes, even joining in a few times when more hands were required. All around the workshop are little projects he is working away on. You can see how passionate he is about the work from every detail. We had an absolute blast, and within an hour of being home with our project have told all our family and colleagues about our day. Its incredible to have come away with a beautiful piece of old school engineering and are already discussing what we could make next at the forge!!"