The Museum Collection: Blacksmith

Lailey's Forge, Bridge Street, now the Bridge Tea RoomsBlacksmiths were common everywhere while there was a need for wrought iron to be shaped for individual purposes, especially of course for making and shoeing horses. The last one with a forge in Bradford was Albert Lailey’s in bridge Street. Today mobile smiths travel to the horse rather than the other way round and art smithing is done in mild steel.

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Click on the thumbnail pictures for a bigger view.

Blacksmith's tongsA selection of blacksmith’s tongs. They are specially shaped for holding particular shapes and the smith might have used several during shaping a piece as it changed shape. The were probably used by Frank Summers, who worked in Market Street from the end of the 19th century until 1922 and perhaps by George Summers before him, going back to the 1820s or 1830s.

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Horse shoeHorse shoes were the main trade of blacksmiths at a time when horses provided most road transport. With so much contact with the horses in making articles that were made to measure for each hoof, blacksmiths often performed some of the functions of a vet too.


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