Moorforge viking settlement, cumbria, UK.The weekend of the 7th April 2019 found us in Cumbria, on the edge of Gilcrux at the Viking settlement named Moorforge. We had spent the day before travelling down visiting a few historical sites on the way. We arrived and enjoyed an evening of drinking by the fire in the longhouse. What an experience in itself.!! Moorforge host a number of activities at the site, from open days, re-enactment training, knife forging and Early medieval cooking. The blacksmith course is a day where you learn the basic knife making skills along with a few people (course is limited to 4 adults and 2 juniors (11-16) who can help their responsible adults forge a blade). 9am start (after a fire cooked breakfast for us) we met with David who explained the days plan and we were taken into his modern day workspace to begin forging our blades. David is relaxed and easy going, after a quick demonstration(where he makes it look so simple) it is hands on, Each person takes it in turns to heat their metal and hammer it into a blade shape. So much fun was had. David then takes the blade a step further and we got to the point where we quenched our blades before breaking for lunch (which is included in the price) After lunch we had to use a grinder and then prepare the handle, sounds so easy, it is not that simple! As we let the blades dry in the wood that would become a handle we were able to see what was going on around the site, it was busy with hand-poked tattoos, re-enactors, the places was lively and full of cheer. Sanding the handles into shape brought our knives into being, each blade was unique and was interesting to see what each persons blade looked like. It was a unique and worthwile experience which we enjoyed together as a couple and as individuals. We are still enjoying the buzz from the weekend, We are looking forward to returning to Moorforge in the future.
The site is still in progress of being built as David and his team work to bring everything together, it is finding that people are interested in the project as a whole. We know that we will lend a hand if required. Course cost: £80 which included a light lunch. MOORFORGE DETAILS Moor House (199.40 km) CA7 2RA Gilcrux, Cumbria, United Kingdom 07804 556639 Website: https://www.moorforge.co.uk also check them out on Facebook!
1 Comment
Stephen hodgson
12/5/2021 08:30:22 am
Afternoon
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Alistair and Ffyona's TravelsOur adventure blog, little bit of history, our recommendations and a few photos... Archives
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