Ingles Open Road at Village Blacksmiths
The following paid content is produced by Ingles Markets.
I’m Chris Bainbridge, inviting you to take a ride with me. This is an amazing place to find adventure in all shapes and sizes. Ingles has sent me on a mission to bring you the very best of what our beautiful home has to offer – food, fun, nature, music, and more. All affordable, and all out of the ordinary. This is The Ingles Open Road.
Today, I’m in Brevard North Carolina – one of my favorite mountain towns. It’s filled with awesome shops, restaurants, bakeries, and galleries. It’s home to my favorite small-town Christmas festival. At it sits on the doorstep of Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest. But today we’re not sneaking off to an amazing waterfall. We’re shaping metal with fire.
Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands.
I’m not sure that Longfellow quite had this guy in mind when he penned his famous poem, The Village Blacksmith – but that’s where we are today. Welcome to Village Blacksmiths where owners and instructors Jason Brown and Steve Revis provide instruction in this ancient artform to today’s aspiring smithies.
Blacksmithing dates back to 1500 BC, when the Hittites discovered the process of forging and tempering iron ore. When they scattered in 1200 BC their knowledge and understanding of basic iron work went with them, and the Iron Age was born (could remove this sentence if you need to for time). For some, blacksmithing might conjure images of the middle ages, or maybe the wild west. And while our forge here isn’t powered by mighty bellows within swarthy viking-esque confines… the principles are the same.
The steel is heated in the forge you see behind me. Then it’s brought out to the anvil where it is tapped and pounded into some pretty impressive items when the pros like Jason and Steve are running the show. But the cool thing is that even folks like you and me can come away with a tool or decoration that we made from metal with our own two hands.
Village Blacksmiths offer classes that practically anyone can attend. You can make things like dinner bells, campfire forks, wrench knives, and more. All under expert instruction where you learn and have a lot of fun. You can also take classes in woodworking and silversmithing.
You can purchase items here that are on display. And the pros here also do custom work for things like knives, railings, fireplace sets, and more. But might I encourage you to come on out and try it for yourself. Get started by looking up Village Blacksmiths in Brevard. Your weekend is waiting on the Ingles Open Road.
