SIX men who 10 months ago had no blacksmithing experience have handcrafted ornate gates for a Cirencester park.


The team from Cirencester based charity the Churn Project have been working on the two wrought-iron gates for City Bank’s natural meadow, which lies between City Bank View and Beeches Road.


The project started as a partnership between the charity, who wanted to promote rural skills, and Cirencester Town Council, who needed new gates for the meadow.


Amazingly, when they started the project in September most of them had never held a hammer before and didn’t know a bellow from an anvil.


The team of six, who are all aged 18 to 29, learned the tricks of the trade over 24 sessions, working one day a week with expert local blacksmith Ben Prothero.


After designing the gates for 10 weeks, the team set to work heating and hammering the iron into its intricate shape.


Finally, on Tuesday, July 7, Ben and his team of six, Dan Hawkes, Sean Rowland, Tom Carter, Casey Hayward, Tim Gobey and Joshua McKenna, erected the gates on the Beeches Road side of the field.
 


“When I heard about the project I had to jump on it, and I’ve got to say I’ve absolutely loved it, said Dan Hawkes.


“We’ve all done different parts of the gates and we’ve learnt loads since we started.”


To balance the hard work of erecting the gates, staff from the Churn Project held a BBQ and invited people from Cirencester to join.


Funds were donated by Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Cirencester Town Council.


“What’s been amazing is it started out as a little idea and now so many people have come together to make something really special,” said Amanda Griffiths, skills and employmentat the Churn Project.


“Keeping rural crafts going is really important to us, and anyone is welcome at the Churn project,” she added. “We work for the people, we don’t have an axe to grind with anyone.”