Living Heritage -

 Totara Blacksmiths

A blacksmith is a man who melts metal and makes it into something. Totara Estate has a forge and a smithy. The forge can be worked by someone from Totara Estate.

Totara Estate is on the road to Dunedin, which is in the south island of New Zealand so if  you would like to visit it to see the smithy; you can,  because Totara Estate is open to everyone.

I went to Totara Estate to gather this information, so if you don't believe me, go there.

When was the blacksmith first brought to Totara?

The first blacksmith was brought to Totara when Totara Estate was founded in 1866.

How did the blacksmiths make things?

The blacksmiths would work in a place called a smithy and inside is a forge, which looks a bit like a fire, except it is usually hotter than a normal fire. The blacksmith would use a pair of heavy tongs so that the blacksmith could put things in and take them out again without burning his fingers. Then he would heat the metal until it was red hot, so it was soft enough to hammer into shape. Then he would, after hammering the piece of metal into the right shape on the anvil in the smithy, take the piece of metal and plunge it into some water for it to cool down. Then it was ready to be used.