We caught up with Ironart’s Apprentice Olly in early February to see how his training is going…

On Forgework Skills & Learning…

“I’ve been cracking through the training plan on Forgework Fridays, with the exercises set out for me last summer. There is only one of the set forgework tasks left to go – making a set of tongs within a set time limit.  Making tongs is really hard, you’ve got to be really precise. The individual pieces are not too difficult to make, but making them to the exact, perfect standard is the tricky part, but I’m ready for the challenge.

The forgework exercises all transfer into each other. Whenever I succeed in making something new the skills I pick up are useful to me in the next task which is rewarding. Some of the tasks took me some time. I’ve realised that the most enjoyable aspect of forgework is when I’m making something for an end purpose, rather than just an exercise for the sake of the repetition and practice. It’s all useful learning, but it’s more enjoyable and rewarding when you have a completed, finished item in your hand.”

On site work and fitting…

“I’ve been out on site fitting recently which has been really enjoyable. I fitted a run of Bath finial railings in the city with Ironart’s most experienced fitter, Luke. I was tasked with marking out the fresh stonework, pouring moulten lead into the new Bath stone copings which required accuracy and care. I also fitted an external handrail at Beckfords Tower with Luke which was rewarding.

I’ve felt confident doing these tasks, felt like I was truly contributing to the team and it’s given me the confidence to want to handle a bit more responsibility.”

In the Summer of 2024 Ironart’s apprentice Olly received a grant from The York Consortium for Craft & Conservation to support his training here at Ironart. The YCCC grant is part of a new funding scheme to support craft trainees and apprentices, especially where their craft is endangered and funded training is not available.