Hanging out: Margaret Foord and Dot Bailey Dot offered heritage day visitors a working laundry experience, everything from clothes washing to ironing and the use of “dolly pegs’’. Dot has a 12-year history with Merrigum Museum and Margaret has been a volunteer for five years.
Undera plumber Harrison Collins has stepped into the shoes of his late father to continue the tradition of Merrigum’s annual Heritage Day having an operational blacksmith forge as an annual attraction.
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Mr Collins and his wife Steph stepped up to provide an example of the skills Harrison inherited from his father Kevin, who died two years ago.
“For me it is a bit of a hobby and I know how passionate Dad was about these days. He was a fencing contractor and involved for a long time as the blacksmith on heritage day,” Harrison said.
While Harrison’s blacksmith work is a hobby, he has continued his father’s work on horse-drawn vehicles, built from scratch at his property.
He said blacksmithing was a lost art and he had taught himself much of what he knows, picking up bits and pieces along the way to make his own nails, fire pokers, door handles, wine bottle holders and coat hooks.
The 28-year-old blacksmith is probably one of the youngest exponents of his craft in Australia and is regularly called on to attend heritage days such as Merrigum.
"Most of my work is on horse drawn vehicle restoration, but I pretty much work with anything that is old and rusty’’ he said.
Through the wringer: Dot Bailey using a vintage hand-cranked clothes wringer at Merrigum heritage day on Sunday.
Ancient art: Undera’s Steph and Harrison Collins had a constant stream of interested onlookers who were keen to experience Harrison’s blacksmith skills at the heritage day
Six-year-old Dylan King from Kyabram closely inspects the work of former Picola-based shearer Geoff Lubke. Geoff’s son, Dylan, provided roustabout support to his father, who shore six sheep on the day. Geoff retired a few years ago after 25 years of shearing and provided an interactive experience for a constant stream of onlookers.
