A and T Petersen Ltd reviews

john Albiston reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"I did the introduction to blacksmithing 2 day course a few months ago and got the bug. This intermediate two day course was really what i wanted and that was to try and get the skills to start my own forge. It did that and more. As well as improving my skills, it allowed us to make some of the tools needs to get started, but more importantly it was the advice and insights which really helped. So I am ready to have a go at starting my own forge. Many thanks Aaron a great weekend"

Jen Leighton reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"Absolutely fantastic handson course. Aaron is an excellent and patient teacher who is also very generous with his time and knowledge. Nothing is too difficult for him and he is happy to encourage your individual creativity. My husband and I and my 2 sons did the 2 day workshop as a birthday present to ourselves and we all cane away very inspired and happy with what we had created with Aaron’s help. We made some amazing candelabra, a full length coat stand and very cute seahorse hooks and other types of hooks and even some knives. It was a wonderful experience . Thank you so much Aaron. We loved our time with you."

Barry Clayton reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"What a great present this turned out to be. Aaron skilfully and patiently introduced us to the art of blacksmithing with his easy and relaxed teaching style. Within the first hour we were forging useful hooks which progressed into a steady production which helped to familiarise us with the furnace,tools and environment. We swiftly moved onto a more ambitious project which included splitting mild steel bar and riveting. I was particularly pleased with the twist decorated poker we forged after lunch. Aaron was always there to help resurrect any aspect that was creeping out of control so there was no feeling that the piece would end in failure. My wife had a lovely day sketching down on the coast at Laugharne where we found good accommodation within 4 miles of the forge. This was a very professionally run course thanks to Aaron and his family team. Highly recommended."

Olly reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"An outstanding day with Aaron at Ferric Fusion. Having done similar courses in other crafts elsewhere, I have got used to coming away with some utter tat that I daren't show even the most sympathetic friends. This one has been different, though. The things we made were excellent and I am so proud of what I've come away with. Aaron has a great teaching style - you can see his background in teaching and displaying the craft come through. His relaxed nature belies a real eye for detail. The course is an excellent, full day of blacksmithing. With a brilliant sense of humour, he will show you that nothing is unrecoverable in blacksmithing - even if you make a complete hash of the project, he'll tap it back in line! Every one who did the course (5 of us) came away exhausted and buzzing. I cannot recommend this course enough."

Elisabeth Mosca reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"I came along with a friend who'd received the weekend course as a gift and had so much fun! Aaron was such a wonderful, patient teacher, who took the time to give each of us (3 on the course in total) lots of care and attention. It's not easy to follow what everyone is doing and keep an eye on us all. However, Aaron showed his experience and knowledge throughout and intervened at only the right moments. I'm still amazed when I look at the items I made! Such a sense of achievement :)"

john Albiston reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"what a great way to spend a weekend. Aaron was a great teacher, helping when ever a guiding hand was needed. i learnt a lot and made some great things. highly recommended."

Roger Davies reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"My buddy and I had a great weekend with Aaron. he has a happy knack of adjusting the course to suit the students. We learned a lot, and had fun doing it. The smithy is well equipped. This is a very good course."

Brian reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"My wife treated me for my 64th birthday to Aaron's one day starter course and it has to rank as one of the best presents she has ever sorted for me. The course was informative and interesting and I came away with several, self made, useful objects including a wall hung triple coat hook and decorative poker that my daughter immediately stole for her wood burner! A brilliant day. Many thanks Aaron."

Rob McCusker reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"Had this day course as a present last year and finally got round to doing it. Absolutely loved it! Aaron was great, very interesting and I could have watched him work all day. Learnt so much in a short time and made some really useful stuff to take home. Now have the Blacksmith-ing bug!"

Isabel Morgan reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"Had such a lovely and amazing weekend learning the craftsmanship of blacksmithing. I've been wanted to do it for awhile now and had the chance to, was the best thing i've done this year. Aaron was great he's friendly and an excellent teacher. I learned the basics and techniques of blacksmithing and made a range of wonderful pieces from hooks to the rams head poker and more was just amazing to see how metal can become such beautiful objects that are decorative or useful. I really recommend doing this course if you have wanted to give it a go its such a good experience or if you know someone that would love to do it give it to them as a gift. Great hospitality too can get lots of tea and coffee. Again just wanna say how amazing of a weekend it was should definitely try this course out."

Rob Barnes reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"A fabulous course, professionally run. The content was spot on starting with the most basic of skills and moving on. Aaron is a true master of his trade and a wonderful teacher. I gained so much from this and do plan on coming back. I can not recommend this enough. 5*."

Ian Young reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"Bought this one day blacksmithing beginners course for my dad for Christmas who at the tender age of 77 has discovered through YouTube a passion for metalwork. Of course that meant I had to go along as well. ? Aaron provided a day of instruction and advice that made a 7.5 hour day seem like it went in 10 minutes. Very practical and hands on from the beginning, we learnt so many new skills and very quickly were putting these rudimentary skills to use making lovely hand made items which we could take home and show off. We both thoroughly enjoyed the experience and after seeing the photos I took of the day I now have my son wanting to come next time. And there will be a next time. We have to come back to check if Aaron has increased the anvil count. We were up to 13 I believe. Thank you again Aaron and team for a day we will both remember for a long time."

Rachel reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"Excellent course from booking to the ending. Trudi makes you feel welcome and Aaron is a mine of useful information, patient and incredibly helpful. Having never used a hammer to hit anything other than my thumb I was amazed at what I managed to create with his help. I would recommend it to anyone and will probably try to go again purely because it was so enjoyable."

Sandy Andrews reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"What a fantastic day!! A very relaxed atmosphere and Aaron is so knowledgeable about so many things. Masses of hands-on 'doing' and it was surprising how little strength was needed to form the metal into something pretty. I can't believe I came home with such professional-looking and useful items - brilliant! Highly recommended. :-)"

Alison Edwards reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"Lovely day. I am not very practical which was partly why I wanted to try this course & it was a great introduction to the art of blacksmithing. Aaron was very patient & gave individual attention to each one of us. Would highly reccommend."

Andrew reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"Simply brilliant. Everything about the place, the people and the experience is fantastic. Do it."

A and T Petersen Ltd responded:

"Thank you so much for your review - you have given us PLATINUM status. We love meeting our course attendees and we love what we do.....thank you"

Nigel Pugh reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"As a beginner both one day and two day courses I attended were inspiring full of fun and enthusiastically taught by Aaron who has great knowledge and a passion for anything involving iron."

Marion Baker reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"An enjoyable weekend and my first attempt at blacksmithing! Aaron explained things clearly, demonstrating for the small group and then helping as required when we made the items ourselves. The small group size means that there is plenty of time for any questions and individual help. Aaron is an enthusiastic, patient and encouraging teacher and all of us left with items we could be proud of. I recommend the weekend course even if you have no experience at all and also that you try to stay an extra night or two so that you can appreciate the area as well."

Richard Williams reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"What an absolutely incredible day! Aaron is a superb blacksmith and equally good instructor. Blacksmithing is something I've always wanted to try and the day didn't disappoint. I look forward to booking again in the near future, I've been well and truly bitten by the forge bug!"

Grégoire reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"A wonderful experience from start to finish. My first email was greeted by kind Trudi who was very helpful in organising my week-end and discussing with Aaron the blacksmith how my special request could be done. I wanted to build my first hammer, and to my great surprise they offered me to do that in the course of a one-on-one session with Aaron Friday before the weekend course, AND still come on the first day of the course for the same price as the weekend's. I absolutely loved spending the day with Aaron, hammering away with the sledgehammer while having a laugh and a lovely chat with the good man. Aaron showed passion that's rarely seen these days, and genuine enthusiasm about helping me make that hammer. I learnt a great deal in the process ; either by just listening to him comment his own actions and explaining his instructions, or by questioning him on sometimes not-so-relevant matters over tea breaks. Saturday was more about learning the basics from scratch to smith in autonomy, which is good-different and it's harder than we think so I am glad I could do both days under Aaron's supervision. We would normally think a personal request is asking a favour, but Aaron is actually eager to work on something different and I am very glad to have helped him somewhat to make his own hammer at the same time because it's really been a blast. At the end I caught up with my girlfriend who told me she had spent an excellent time with Trudi who happens to own a shop in Carmarthen, so you could just pop in. But if you can't, just trust me, it's one of those things to have down on the bucket list. I walked away happy, with a magnificent hammer of very nice feel and gorgeous polished shape and gradients of colours, as well as a pair of tongs and a coat hanger, but above all with good memories and good faith in humanity. Thanks to both of you, T. and A. Take care !"

Caitlin reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"Had a fantastic time on the weekend blacksmithing course - everyone came away with pieces they could be proud of. Aaron was a knowledgeable and VERY patient teacher! We were able to cover a good range of techniques, but the course didn't feel too overwhelming to a complete beginner. I had great fun and would highly recommend to anyone looking to try out a new skill."

Paul Jones reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"Just spent the weekend learning to blacksmith with Aaron from Ferric Fusion. The course was bought for me as a birthday present and it was fantastic. Great fun learning to make a rams head fire poker, as well as many hooks and fire tongs. Aaron is a very knowledgable blacksmith and a great teacher of his trade. I would highly recommend this course to those looking to try something new. ? — in Saint Clears, Carmarthenshire, United Kingdom."

Martin Mahoney reviewed: Blacksmithing for beginners - one day taster

"What an absolutely fantastic day. Aaron is the consummate professional craftsman and educator and is an absolute delight to both watch and be guided by. If you are a maker of any kind or simply enjoy learning new skills, this course is a must for the to-do list. I will be taking what I've learned over the course of the day into my professional life as a prop maker and will certainly hope to return to Steele Avenue one day if only just to watch a master at work. Many, many thanks and kindest regards to all involved Martin M"

Helen reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"I brought this course for my sister on the condition that I had to go with her. I was not disappointed! It was the first time that I'd tried anything like this and although I don't think I will ever become an accomplished Blacksmith, I am really pleased with what I managed to achieve over the 2 days (with a lot of help from Aaron). What I was particularly impressed with was the way in which the course was structured as there were lots of demonstrations and things were explained at each step. Aaron was also more than happy to repeat things and because there were only 4 of us, there was plenty of time to provide guidance on a 1-2-1 basis. When I read the description of the course I had been a little concerned that I might end up with a number of things that I would have no use for - I live in a rented flat with no fireplace or garden. However, I came away with a short curtain rail (rather than a poker) and 2 candle sticks as well as the hooks made on the first day. Aaron was more than happy to accommodate my requests, offering suggestions that were within my skill level and used it as an opportunity to show the others a few different techniques. I've been proudly showing off my accomplishments to my friends as I can't quite believe that I made them. A fantastic experience which I would highly recommend. Aaron's skill as a Blacksmith and patience as a teacher mean that you learn a lot over the 2 days and importantly have several completed projects to take how at the end."

jacqueline reviewed: 2 day blacksmithing courses

"My sister treated me to this course for my birthday and it was brilliant. Aaron was a great teacher and is a very lovely man. I chuffed with how many bits I came home with. being fairly useless at anything arty, it's a real credit to Aaron's teaching and patience that I made stuff I'm really proud of! Very fun weekend. lots of graft but well worth it and very, very interesting. Great sense of achievement at the end of it. Really pleased and I highly recommend this course to others. Thanks Aaron!"