There is a neat article up over at Culture 24. It talks about how the Heritage Blacksmith Bursaries received a £350,000 Lottery grant that it will use to train 16 people in conservation and restoration of historic ironwork. Sign me up for one of those grants!

There is a video and story posted up at the Victoria Advocate about Stone Speer a local smith. Part of the reason Stone might be getting so much attention is that he is running a full time blacksmith shop at the ripe old age of 23. A young entrepreneur! The reporting that went into this article is noticebly better then some. They interviewed Rome Hutchings of ABANA, and Tee Hines, past president of the Houston Area Blacksmith's Association. The article and video are worth a look.

Prime Time Russia has a story and video up that covers traditional crafts in Russia. It's a nice little video worth watching. They cover a woodworker, painter, blacksmith and glass blower. There is a nice regional aspect that makes it very interesting to watch. The blacksmith they work with is Andrey Chernenko, who seems like a talented man.

UK blacksmith Ray Gardiner is hoping to expand his country shop located near Westhill, UK. Unfortunately his expansion goes against the Aberdeenshire Council’s policy about building in the countryside. He is fighting before the council in order to get permission to expand. He would like to grow his business and offer classes to those interested in smithing. He's hoping he gets his request! The Press and Journal is covering the story.

He's a bit of trivia for you. Where does New York City get it's park basketball hoops from? Why they have someone in the parks department hand forge them! Who knew? The New York Times has a story up about it. It seems that a few blacksmiths in the parks department have forged and fabricated thousands of rims over the years. Quite interesting. Makes me wonder how one can get a job with the parks department as a resident blacksmith!

The Ithaca Journal is reporting that Cornell University just had four forged lamp fixtures installed. They will be lighting up the entry way to Willard Straight Hall. The lamp fixtures were made by Durand Van Doren. Durand's lamps are now up next to the iron gates on the front doors of the Straight Hall, which were designed and forged by Samuel Yellin in 1925. The lanterns are not the first of Van Doren's work at Cornell.

Colonial Williamsburg is planning on adding a blacksmith shop and armory to it's list of historical re-creations. Thanks goes to the former Mars, Inc., CEO Forrest E. Mars Jr. for donating $4.5 million in order to fund the project. The site will be where a current blacksmith is located. The shop will feature blacksmiths forging and repairing firearms and tinsmiths creating military accessories. What a gift for a smithy! The Pilot Online is covering the story.

The Age is covering the creation of the Ten meter tall, forged gum tree. The tree was created to commemorate the Black Saturday fires. The tree will host a six meter wide canopy of thousands of hand forged stainless steel and copper leaves. The leaves contain the names of loved ones, pets, properties, brave firefighters and volunteers who were lost to the fire or fought it heroically. It is designed to bring a message of encouragement and hope.