The National School of Blacksmithing (NSB) is part of Herefordshire and Ludlow College, a college of further education (FE). It is located at the Centre for

Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

Crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

Holme Lacy Holme Lacy is a village in the English county of Herefordshire. The population of the civil parish was 466 at the 2011 Census. Category It is a primarily rural village. Etymology Holme Lacy is not from Old Norse ''holmr'' "island" like other pla ...

, approximately 6 miles (10 km) from the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Hereford,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

The school was founded in 1946 in Hereford. It moved to its present purpose-built facility (which it shares with Hereford School of Farriery) in 2000, having previously been situated at HCT's Folly Lane, Hereford campus. (Hereford School of

Farriery A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

previously occupied a site on Burcott Road, Hereford). The new Centre for Rural Crafts was opened by The Princess Royal.

Students

NSB students come from a broad range of ages, backgrounds and nationalities. The school has a tradition of training international students from the Commonwealth, USA and Europe as well as the UK.

The Centre for Rural Crafts

The move to the Centre for Rural Crafts in 2001 meant considerable expansion as the facility now contains 79

hearths A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, ...

in total; 42 in the blacksmithing bays, and 36 in the farriery bays, as well as a separate demonstration forge area with seating for 36 students. Organised into 3 'bays' with 14 hearths and anvils per bay, each of the 3 blacksmithing bays has its own powerhammers, flypress and other associated equipment and impedimenta. The school also has its own welding and fabrication section where

MIG Russian Aircraft Corporation "MiG" (russian: Российская самолётостроительная корпорация „МиГ“, Rossiyskaya samolyotostroitel'naya korporatsiya "MiG"), commonly known as Mikoyan and MiG, was a Russi ...

MAG Mag, MAG or mags may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''MAG'' (video game), 2010 * ''Mag'' (Slovenian magazine), 1995–2010 * '' The Mag'', a British music magazine Businesses and organisations * MacKenzie Art Gallery, in Regina, Sask ...

, TIG, and

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

disciplines are taught as well

brazing Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, with the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Brazing differs from we ...

soldering Soldering (; ) is a process in which two or more items are joined by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Unlike welding, soldering does not involv ...

and sheet-metalworking.

Technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and discipline of composing drawings that visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essential for communicating ideas in industry and engineering ...

, design, graphics and theory classes take place in a range of classrooms above the IT suite and subject staff offices.

Courses

The NSB runs full-time training courses from one to three years duration, as well as block release courses for apprentices and other craftsmen/craftswomen in industry. The school also runs night classes for those unable to take up full-time training. In addition, seminars (such as for WCB judges and the National Heritage Ironwork Group) also take place there. The school jointly runs a B.A. degree in Artist Blacksmithing with

Hereford College of Arts Hereford College of Arts is an art school based in the West Midlands, UK, and is the only specialist college in the region dedicated to the Arts. Description It offers courses in both further and higher education fields, in Art & Design, Musi ...

External links

Worshipful Company of BlacksmithsBritish Artist Blacksmiths Association (BABA)Crafts Council- list of metalworking guilds, training establishments, etc.
{{coord, 52.0170, -2.6556, type:edu_region:GB, display=title Technical universities and colleges in the United Kingdom Education in Hereford