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From: Stan Bayne <>
Subject: Slowness
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 15:06:15 +1200
OK - here goes once more!
A further reminiscence from my childhood.
Not far from where we lived was a blacksmiths shop run by a chap named
Claughton (I am not sure of the spelling) and this was just the sort of
place where the schoolkids would always stop to watch when he was
shoeing a horse. We were fascinated by the smoke, flames and red-hot
horseshoes, and its a fair bet that even todays sophisticated kids
would want to stop and look, too. Old Claughton - well, he seemed
pretty ancient to us - would take the horses hoof between his knees,
lift the red-hot shoe out of the forge, and place it on the hoof to
imprint the shape accurately.
The smoke and pungent stink fascinated me and I could never understand
why the horse simply stood there stolidly chomping its food instead of
leaping around and screaming with pain. Claughtons smithy has long
since gone, although the house is still there (1999) and no doubt
Claughton himself has joined his ancestors about forty years back. I
always think that it is a pity that colourful things like that have gone
forever, which is the price we pay for progress, I suppose. But the
fact is that watching a blacksmith shoeing a horse was far more
interesting than watching a mechanic changing a tyre. Sic transit
gloria mundi!
Cheers from
Stan in cool and cloudy NZ
--
Stan Bayne, Wellington, New Zealand > Researching: BAYNE; Lancs, Ches:
BARBER, BEARDSHAW, BELL, LANE, STAINROD, THOMPSON, WALSH; Notts.
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