How a workshop in the tiny town of Cheshunt is keeping blacksmithing alive

After falling off a horse while on holiday, Brendan Thompson started teaching himself how to work in hot iron. Now he’s looking for new people to learn the old craft.

Deep in the beautiful King Valley, Brendan Thompson is keeping the fire burning for the art of blacksmithing.

Mr Thompson is one of only a handful of smiths still forging metal by hand in Victoria, but he wouldn’t do anything else.

“I love it, mate,” he said.

“I love nothing more than getting something so real, like just a bit of plain old steel and turning into something beautiful, you know?

“You’re only limited by your imagination.”

Despite the modern day dominance of machine manufacturing, largely done overseas, Mr Thompson believes there will always be demand for the uniquely personal items only human beings can create.

Brendan lights a cigarette with a red hot rose he is creating as a candle holder. Picture: David Caird

Sporting a wild grey beard fit for a 19th century stockman, the 54-year-old said he had a steady stream of demand for his bespoke pieces, making everything from candle holders to metal eskies.

He is able to make a living working out of his 4 Elements Blacksmithing forgery in the tiny village of Cheshunt, with just his trusty Blue Heeler Lola for company.

“It has its ups and downs like everything,” he said.

“You know, you make do, you get by.”

One of the main challenges he faces is getting hold of steel, with many farmers and other people with large deposits selling off their old scraps en masse.

“I’d rather make something that matters instead of just smelting it,” he said wistfully.

Mr Thompson said he first got into forging when he fell off a horse during a holiday camp in Lake Buffalo.

Brendan Thompson mid-hammer in his King Valley workshop. Picture: David Caird

“I’d come off the horse and done myself a bit of mischief and took a fair bit of skin off,” he remembered with a grimace.

“So I was sort of camp bound, I was just left at camp while everyone else went riding.

“There was an anvil at the camp, so I threw a bit of steel on the fire and heated it up and started banging mate.”

He’s been banging steel for over thirty years since.

One of the only things he doesn’t make is horseshoes.

In that time he has also seen quite a transformation in his beloved King Valley, which was recently declared the number one trending travel destination in the country for 2025 by booking.com.

One of Mr Thompson’s first jobs was as a picker in the tobacco fields which used to abound in the region.

He also reckons he planted one of the first vines in the wineries which now dominate the area, before becoming a full time blacksmith at the age of 18.

Although he hopefully has plenty of years left in the tank to do what he loves, it is backbreaking labour and Mr Thompson has already started trying to inspire the next generation of Victorian metalsmiths.

Mr Thompson works out of a tin shed in the small town but his creative iron work is hitting the big time. Picture: David Caird

He works with Boys to the Bush, a charity trying to help vulnerable and disadvantaged boys and young men based out of Albury/Wodonga.

Mr Thompson runs forging masterclasses at camps run by the not-for-profit organisation.

“I teach, give lessons myself, pass the knowledge on a bit,” he said.

“So each time they get a few kids from Wang (Wangaratta) or Albury or whatever, they usually give me a buzz and I get them in the shop and give them a bash and let them make a little poker for themselves to take home.”

With the number of blacksmiths working in Victoria likely to only dwindle further as the years go on, Mr Thompson said he wanted to do his bit to ensure the art didn’t die out entirely.

“It’s good to give back because the problem is when I die, all that knowledge goes with me. “That’s why I like to pass it on now, I suppose.”

Originally published as How a workshop in the tiny town of Cheshunt is keeping blacksmithing alive