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Blacksmith:
Blacksmith Henry Dorken of Chipping Hill, Essex,
fits new shoes to one of a pair of grey Percherons brought in from a nearby
farm, 1950.
The blacksmith's craft was vital to the rural village, with the horse
the mainstay of his business. His workmanship was highly skilled, and
besides farriery included the making and repairing of tools and equipment
for farms and households. The work was hard and the hours worked were
long, often from 6 in the morning until 6 at night. The sons of blacksmiths
would often follow their fathers into the trade, and in 1851 there were
112,000 blacksmiths recorded working in Britain. Little over a century
later though, this figure began a steady decline as motor tractors and
cars increased at the expense of horse drawn vehicles.
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Blacksmith
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