History of Iron Making

Amina Chatwin became an important figure in the world of modern artistic iron working during the latter years of the 20th century and was known to many blacksmiths. For a number of decades she attended conferences and meetings and served on a variety of committees, eventually becoming a Companion of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths. In 1985 she wrote and published her book on the decorative iron work in her home town of Cheltenham. In 1995 she followed this up with her major work The New Iron Age: Modern British Blacksmiths, of which she personally published and distributed 4000 copies. It is a comprehensive record of modern artistic blacksmithing. Richard Quinnell MBE spoke of this work in his obituary to her:- It is impossible to overstate the importance of this book in the history of our craft: without it, there would be no comprehensive, accessible public record of the remarkable revival of artistic blacksmithing in the last quarter of the 20th century. Amina gave many talks on various aspects of iron making over many years plus contributing many articles to magazines such as The Anvil's Ring, the Historical Metallurgy Society (of which she was editor for many years), and The British Artist Blacksmiths Association (BABA). She attended blacksmithing conferences in the United States of America and Europe where she met some of the leading blacksmiths of the day.