BLACKSMITHING is an ancient art that began around 1500 BC. It began with the Hittites when they used it to forge basic tools and weapons.

Local Blacksmith, Pete Green, will be working the forge and anvil to showcase some of the skills from this bygone era, as part of the Hamilton Pastoral Museum display at Sheepvention.

The efforts of the Hittites were somewhat hampered by their lack of understanding of the properties of iron though.

Although crude and not overly strong, they were still better than the alternatives available at the time.

The discovery and use of charcoal was a major advancement as it allowed for a greater control over heat and allowed for more complex and stronger tools and weapons to be made.

During the medieval period blacksmiths were central to the importance of a village as they could manufacture not just weapons, but tools, locks, horseshoes and armour.

Due to their skills and being seen as ‘magical’ in what they could do, some were seen as witches.

Some blacksmiths were even burned at the stake for this very reason.

During the industrial revolution, blacksmithing started to decline as machinery and automation began to take away the need for the personal handcrafted touch of the ‘smithy’.

Machines could produce countless identical items of one design far cheaper than the ‘smithy’ could.

The only items that didn’t shift away from the personal touch was that of the farrier.

The need to have individualised items for each horse meant that many blacksmiths moved over to the work of a farrier.

Nowadays, blacksmithing is seen as an artisan art, a throw-back to a by gone era.

Combining the ‘old school’ techniques with the modern techniques of today, it has become a respected profession and a hobby for many people.

Pete Green, or Greeny to those who have known me for more than five minutes, operates the blacksmithing shop at the Hamilton Pastoral Museum - he also tinkers away in his own workshop at home.

“I have always enjoyed watching a good blacksmith at work as it amazed me how they could turn a non-discript piece of metal into a tool or art,” Pete said.

“I became interested in exploring blacksmithing more after a breakdown with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) and a Conversion Disorder in 2016.

“A chance meeting with Marty Venstra (the blacksmith at the Port of Echuca) and spending a day with him, receiving some tuition on the basics of the art, I decided that it was something that could benefit my own mental health.

“Engaging in a mastery skill and achieving something from a piece of metal, or on my bad days, just being able to vent my frustrations on a piece of metal became very therapeutic.

“I’m by no means an expert in the art. I am always learning and exploring what can be done and how to do it.”

Pete will have some items for sale, some made at his home workshop and others made on-site during Sheepvention.

Items will include fire rakes, fire pokers, campfire stands and peg pullers, among other things.

So come and say hello to Pete at the Hamilton Pastoral Museum’s display at Site 243, have a chat and see some of the skills that made the blacksmith such a central part of many villages in history.