Functional history

For the first time in my life I visited a blacksmith today. We were involved, peripherally, in the repair of two door handles from the Cathedral of The Isles - handles that date from 1850 or thereabouts. We took them to the local blacksmith, who told us that 1850 is when his smithy was founded. Now his son has begun working there, making the 6th generation of the family firm.

The photo is of the furnace - the original furnace. The only difference is that in the past there were two fires in the space, each with its own set of bellows. There was a heap of smouldering fuel (what do blacksmiths burn?) and the sides of the chimney were pale with the ash of over a century. There was a smell of metal in the workshop, which was the most amazing clutter of anvils, steel rods, welders' masks, hammers, saws ...

My extra picture is of the wall beside the door - an ancient wooden split door - with the ash dust dark this time on the once-white distemper.