Going, going, gone!

Ginninderra Blacksmith's Workshop

The Ginninderra Blacksmith's Workshop is on the eastern side of the Barton Highway 300 metres south of the Gold Creek Road; turn into the Deasland entrance and then turn right onto the dirt.

The Workshop is protected by a chain link fence; you can see a lot of the detail from the fence, but if you would like a tour of the site with some friends, perhaps a community group, contact the National Trust (ACT) and the heritage officer can arrange a time to meet you - http://www.nationaltrustact.org.au/#. The site and the bellows, which are owned by the ACT Government. have been sadly neglected except for some minor stabilisation by the National Trust under ACT Heritage Grants.

As well as serving the needs of the district when horse power and transport were essential to the livelihood of the residents, the smith made tools, machinery parts, nails, gates and their fixings and door furnishings. The smithy was also a social centre where the residents tended to congregate for company, especially in winter when the forge made it one of the warmest places in the village.

The first blacksmith was James Thompson Hatch, who arrived in the district about 1860 and may have erected the building. Hatch did not stay in the district for long and was succeeded by Flourence Joseph McAuliffe who stayed ten years.

The next smith was George Curran who married Mary Ann Hatch, a niece of James Thompson Hatch on 23rd. May 1876 at St. GregoryÕs Church, Queanbeyan. George stayed until 1889 and was very active in sporting and political organisations in the local district. He was a member of the Ginninderra Free Selectors' Association and was Vice President of the Ginninderra Protection Union. He played cricket with the Ginninderra cricket team and was a foundation member of the One Tree Hill Jockey Club. Many meetings of these organisations were held in the shop or in George's house.

During his tenure as blacksmith George Curran took on his young nephew, Henry (Harry) Roland Curran, and taught him the trade. George and Harry stayed a few years then moved to Bungendore and Alexander Warwick operated from the shop. Warwick stayed only two years, leaving in March 1891. Harry Curran then returned to Ginninderra and took over the workshop. Harry is credited with extending the building; adding on a skillion and cladding the walls and roof with second-hand corrugated iron which remains today.

Harry continued at the Blacksmith's Shop until 1949 and finally retired in his eighties. There was no-one to take over the business and from that time the Blacksmith's Shop has never resounded with the hammering of a smithy. It slowly went into ruin, being used for storage by various graziers who agisted live stock in the nearby fields. The building was listed on the ACT Heritage Register in the 1990s and conservation work on the building, organised by the ACT National Trust and funded by the ACT Government, was completed in 2004.

The large bellows is still inside the workshop and many horseshoes were retrieved from the site. One of the famous Ginninderra Cricket team, Johnny Taylor, a local Aboriginal man, worked for the blacksmith. Several Aboriginal artefacts were found near the workshop, including two made on pieces of glass from old bottles. Perhaps Johnny made and used these, his traditional method for getting a sharp edge quickly.