Chalk Pit Forge is set within the beautiful South Downs countryside at Amberley Museum, in Amberley, West Sussex. Here, Alex Smith runs courses for anyone 11 years old and over (please let me know if you're under 18 for insurance reasons. A parent needs to attend if you're under 16).

Alex has been a blacksmith since 1998 and has taught these fascinating skills to students since 2009.

Whether you're thinking about becoming a blacksmith or it is a craft you want to experience, Chalk Pit Forge is the ideal place to learn, as it offers a one-to-one hands-on experience where you will have the forge and Alex's guidance to yourself. There are a lot of mistakes a beginner can make, so one-to-one guidance means you are in good hands.

Alex's one-to-one teaching is based on what you would like to create and learn, the level of ability you're at and what speed you are comfortable working. 

Although it's one-to-one, you can also share a day with a friend and take turns or work as a team.

Please scroll down to view the suggestions for what you can create and images of what others have made in the past. As it's one-to-one, you can choose what you want to make from the list. If you want to create something that isn't on the list, this is also an option, as long as we can complete it within the allotted time and it has been discussed before the day's course.

One day is the minimum time available, but you can book up to twenty days if you fancy doing a longer stint in the forge! 

Anything you create is yours to take home and is included in the course price. Lunch at the cafe is also included. If you bring your own packed lunch, then the course price is £10 less.

A picture of Alex Smith, your tutor, bashing a bit of hot metal at the anvil. The forge and the anvil pictured are the same ones you'll use on the day of your lesson. The workshop was built in the late 1800s and has a lot of history.

The Museum has 36 acres to look around, so if you have the time, there is plenty to see. Chalk Pit Forge has easy access on the southern railway line and is a 2-minute walk from Amberley station.

If you're driving, you can use the A24 or the A29 from London and Surrey, and the A27 from the east [Brighton, Hastings] and the west [Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester]. The postcode is BN18 9LT if you need further directions.

Vouchers

Vouchers for special occasions are available if you're booking a course for someone else. Please e-mail the length of the course you would like to purchase, your name and address and the name you would like on the voucher. I can then send the voucher to your address so you can present it as a gift. Booking can be made by the recipient with Chalk Pit Forge within a year of purchasing his or her's voucher. Vouchers need to be used within 1 year. 

Tony Pullen, twisting the horns for his Rams head. Tony had a two-day course as a birthday gift. He said his ancestors were blacksmiths, so he always fancied having a go.

The Rams head turning poker and log tongs are some of the things he made, cracking job too!

Payment

If you would like to purchase a voucher then please pay by BACS transfer [please ask for my account details]. Or, you can send a cheque [for the full amount], made payable to Alex Smith, to Alex Smith, Chalk Pit Forge, Amberley Museum, Amberley, Nr Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 9LT.

If you would like to book a course for yourself, please send a cheque or a bank transfer of £150 deposit per day booked to book the days that you want. Thank you.

Course Costs

All courses are one-to-one tuition. You'll have the workshop and my guidance all to yourself, so you'll be able to get stuck in! Sharing a day with a friend is also possible for an extra £40. This means taking turns, as there's only one forge and anvil.

One day = £325.

Two-day courses or more = £320 per day.

Lunch at the cafe is included in the price.

Minus £10 per day if you want to bring your packed lunch.

What will I learn?

The course revolves around what you would like to learn and the level of skill you're at.

Learn to manage your fire and shape the metal using the hammer and anvil while trying some of the following techniques: splitting, forging, bending, twisting, punching, fire welding, heat treating, dishing and joining the mild steel while making something from the Day course list below, or you can come up with your own idea as long as I think we can do it in the time.

Make a Rams head poker - Learn to forge, twist, fire weld, bend and split mild steel!  This takes from 5 to 8hrs.

 Day courses:

Make any of the following things, or, if you have an idea of your own, let me know. This could include a kitchen knife, rams head poker, toasting fork, brush, shovel, tongs, chestnut roaster, fire stand, curtain rails, curtain tie backs, pots n pan wrack, hooks, candlestick holder, handles, brackets, shoehorn, letter holder, paper-knife, nails, key rings, bottle opener, welly holder, boot scraper, door knocker, plant pot holders, hanging basket bracket, sculpture, camping/cooking tripod stand, plant climber, bird feeder, birdbath, kitchen knife and t-light holders. Course length = 9 am to 5 pm = £325

Please note: When making a few of the above, the materials are included in the course price, but if you would like to use a lot of materials, then you may be charged extra. Also, if you need specific material, then I will need to know beforehand.

Sharing a Day course:

Only one forge and an anvil are available, but two people can share a day and take turns. This works well for people who aren't used to doing physical work or want to share the experience with a friend.

In a shared day you can make one of the following items each: Simple poker/turning poker or toasting fork or brush, Curtain rail, Bulls head hooks, Candlestick holder, Wall candlestick holder, Snail letter holder, Nails, ammonite key ring, bottle opener, hooks, handles, curtain tie backs, toilet roll holder, paper knife, shoe horn, Boot Scraper, Bird feeder, T-light holders, A lily.

Or you can work on the same project and make one of the following: Hanging basket bracket, Obelisk/plant climber, Lily bird feeder, Bird bath, Welly holder, Camping tripod, Fire accessory stand, Book ends, Boot scraper with a handle. Course length = 9 am to 5 pm = £365.

2 Day courses:

Spend more time working on your project. Each day length = 9 am to 5 pm. Get to work on more elaborate details. You can make a few things from the day courses list, or you also have the choice of making a handrail, obelisk, tools, sign bracket, fire set, log basket, hinges, curtain rail with brackets, a side table or a window grill. Course cost = £640.

Even longer courses:

Have you got a bespoke project of your own? Or need to knuckle down and learn some skills? Or just fancy making a sculpture, brazier, spit roaster, fire basket, gate, railing, window box, fire pit, archway, bench or any other piece of interior or exterior furniture? Then let me know what you want to achieve and book a time in the forge. Course cost = £320 per day.

Times and Dates

Lessons are run in March, April, September and October and are generally run from Wednesday to Saturday. If you would like a lesson in another month, please get in touch to see if I have the availability. The course can be booked with me once the person has received a voucher [if it is a gift], or, if it's not a gift, you can contact me and arrange a date.

When booking, please get in touch well in advance if you would like a particular date, as months can be booked 6 - 9 months in advance. 

Generally, courses are run from Wednesday to Saturday in the months listed above, but if it's a 5-day course, it is Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday. The day starts at 9 am and ends at 5 pm.

Design and make anything you like! One to twenty-day courses - bespoke courses tailored around you.

Have a look below to see what some students have made in the past!

Past courses include a 1-day course making flowers and leaves, a 2-day course making a swallow sculpture for a garden, a 3-day course making one side of a bench and tools to reproduce the bench for future manufacture, a 4-day course making tools, which included a hammer, a pair of tongs, 3 punches, 2 drifts, a cold chisel, a dot punch, a hot chisel and riveting snaps and a 5-day course designed for a bespoke bicycle maker who wanted guidance on the fundamental techniques involved in working hot metal and to learn how to make a selection of small products to sell at stalls in London.

Also, a 10-day course for Ginny, who learnt how to make a selection of small items, which she can then reproduce and sell while building her own blacksmith business in York. And a 20-Day course for Chris, who wanted to start his own fabrication business but also wanted to touch up on his blacksmith skills to give his work a little originality.

Mary Critchley's snake is made out of 1000mm of 20mm round bar. Mary did a week's course to brush up on her skills before going to the blacksmithing college at Holme Lacy, near Hereford.

Refunds and rescheduling

Course fees are only refundable if, in the unlikely event, I need to cancel. Course fees are the only costs refundable. I can't refund any other costs, like hotel bookings or fuel costs.

Courses can be rescheduled if required, but please notify me a month or more if possible.

Some things students have made in past courses

Sally Avery - 2 day blacksmith course - Bird Bath

Jane Bransgrove - 1 day in the forge - Bird bath

Martin Morgan - 2 days blacksmith experience - Wheat sculpture

Bob Hughes - 1 blacksmith experience day - Lilies bird feeder

Tony Keppler - blacksmith experience day - Rams head poker

Darren Goacher - blacksmith experience day - obelisk

John and Sue Robinson - 3 days in the forge - Handrail and Lilies

Mark Broadmeadow - blacksmith experience day - Dragon door knocker

Stewart Weston-Lewis - 3 day blacksmith course - Lilies, wall plant pot holder and garden tools

Andy Wilson made the scrolls for this pot holder at the forge, then welded it at home and put some shelves on

Ellie Hann - blacksmith experience day - Spring tongs

Martin Hayward - 3 day blacksmith course - hooks and fish bottle openers

Suzanne Gurr - Blacksmith experience day - Trivet

Matthew Lawson - Day in the forge - Candlestick holder

Adam Cory - 2 day blacksmith experience - Rose candlestick holder

James Phillips - 5 day blacksmith course - Rams head rake and brush, ladle, tongs, hanging basket bracket, punches and chisels.

Chris Tiffers - blacksmith experience day - Table stand Antlers

Carol Maher - Blacksmith experience day - Hanging basket bracket

Harry Rowe - Blacksmith experience day - Candlestick holder

Matthew Windsor - Blacksmith experience day - Dragon door knocker

Paul Mady - Blacksmith experience day - Plant pot holder

Kathie Crane- cleft sculpture, cos she loves music - one day in the forge

The Ash Family - Fire set - one day blacksmith experience

Martin O Malley - Hanging basket bracket - two-day blacksmith course

Christian Blundell - Skull Poker... cos it was Halloween ooo - one day experience 

Selwyn Percival - Camping Fire Tripod - one day blacksmith Lesson

Brian Hurst - dragon hooks - 1 day in the forge

Phil Burlingham - Oil drum BBQ stand - 2-day blacksmith experience

Giles - Lily sculpture - 1 day in the forge

Derek Goddard - bird feeder - 1 day in the forge

Mary West - Lily bird bath and feeder - 2-day blacksmith experience

Robert Watt - Table - 1 day blacksmith experience

Richard Scott - Rams head bottle opener - 1-day blacksmith course

Dave Calvert - Welly holder and puller - 1 day blacksmith course

John Linn - Spit Roaster and something to hook his pots off for campfire cooking - 2 Day Blacksmith course

Ken Gosling - Bird Feeder - 1 Day Blacksmith Course

Austen Lucas - Anchor - 1 Day Blacksmith Course

Sarah Stevens -hinges- 1 day blacksmith course

Eddie - Candlestick holder and Rams head poker - 2 Day Blacksmith course

Mark Darbyshire - Tongs - 1 Day Blacksmith Forge

Kevin Germany - fishing rod coat hooks - 2 days in the forge

Tom Brooks - candlestick holder - 1-day course

Tom Brooks - looking chuffed with his candlestick holder

Richard Pierce - traditionally joined bracket and tools - 5 day course

David Paynter - garden arch - 5-day course

Malcolm Clark - fire stand, tongs and poker - 2 day blacksmith course

Nigel Wickham - dragon hanging basket bracket - 2 day blacksmith course

Sean o Brien - sign - 2 day blacksmith course

Steve Mann - fire stand and set - 4 day blacksmith course

Roy Oakenden - rams head shovel - 1 day blacksmith course

Fabiana and hubby - door knocker - 1-day course

Kyle Winkelmaier - 1000 gram Cross Pein Hammer and a rose - 3-day blacksmith course

Mark Frost - Snail letter/file holder- one day blacksmith lesson

Paul Stacey - Obelisk [the painted one was made on a previous one-day lesson] - one-day blacksmith lesson

Mark Attwell - Rams head turning poker and 2 door pulls - 2 day blacksmith course

David Spreadbury-Troy - Candlestick holder and a Skrew - 1 day blacksmith lesson

Patrick Humphries - candlestick holder - 1 day blacksmith lesson

Heather Wall - Weather vein - 3 day blacksmith and fabrication course

Sarah and Alex - Hooks - 1 day course

Hugh Jones - candlestick holder - 1 day 

Charlie Wale - Rams head knocker, 2 day course

Hamish Freeman - Fire dogs, 2-day blacksmith experience course

Steve Mann - Fire set, 2 day course

Jos Jones - Bulls head hooks, 1 day course

James Stephens - Curtain rails, 2 day course

Charlie Batty - window grill

Martin Howard - Boot scraper, music wall, plant pot holders. 2-Day blacksmith experience course.

Jake Evans - Music stand - 2 days

David Lindfield - Doorknocker blacksmith experience course

Daniel Page - Shelf brackets. 2-Day blacksmith experience course

Ben Gibbons - boot scraper. Blacksmith experience course.

Rams head candlestick holder by Jan Svobodova. Blacksmith experience course.

Paper knives by John Lewis. Blacksmith experience course.

A candlestick holder by Andrew Marshallsay. 2-Day blacksmith experience course.

Boot scraper, tongs, poker,  chestnut roaster & simple wall sconces by Jerry Smith on a four-day blacksmith experience course

Boot puller by Jon Hatch. 1-Day blacksmith experience course

Pots and pans wrack, hooks and bicycle hooks made by Jon. 1-Day blacksmith experience course.