This is conspicuously a story about a really exciting new activity to help you chill at the end of a hard day. Although actually ‘new’ isn’t the best term to use, as this practice is at least, oh, let’s say 3,500 years old. And ‘chill’ is a bit misleading as well, as it is carried out at temperatures of around 1300°C (give or take).
Yup, we’re talking about forgery. Of the metallic kind. Being a blacksmith. You can now take a weekly class in this most ancient of arts at Freightliners Farm in Islington. And we reckon it’s gotta be lots of fun. Think of the frustration you can work out as you strike that anvil. And the calories you can sweat off. And the Christmas presents you can hand-make (hand-made Crimbo prezzies are great 'cos no-one ever has the heart to say that they don't like them).
But this Londonista had never heard of Freightliners before (the name comes from the fact that the livestock was originally kept in rail freight containers). And so this is also a story about how our capital never ceases to surprise, delight and generally come up trumps. This inner city farm seems to have everything right – it’s got animals to cooch (none of which it slaughters), a shop, a café, gardens; you can do courses in all sorts from carpentry to bee-keeping – hey, we’re impressed, OK?
So whether you actually want to beat the shit out of something, or just fancy making like a day in the country, it looks once again Londonist is able to tell you where to go.
Smithy from Ennor’s flickr stream under the Creative Commons Licence.
