Oldfield Forge Ltd — Attraction in Garway

An Unforgettable Experience – Thank You Oldfield Forge!

First, I must apologise, I’m terrible with names, which would really help with this review, so apologies if I’ve mixed anyone up!

My (now) fiancée and I booked the Sword Making for Two experience to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. On short notice, the amazing team at Oldfield Forge helped me plan a surprise proposal at the end of the session, even arranging for some extra photos. The entire staff joined in on the surprise quickly and were incredibly helpful throughout the process, adding to the excitement and making everything even more memorable.

Getting to the forge was straightforward, there’s a narrow road leading up to the farm, but it’s manageable. There’s plenty of parking, a lovely little café for lunch, and even fresh milk and eggs you can buy on-site. We arrived for the morning session and were greeted by a very friendly team. After a fun and engaging health and safety briefing, we got straight into hammering!

On day one, we worked with (I believe) Ben, who was incredibly helpful explaining, demonstrating, and guiding us throughout the day. We began with the pommel, heating a steel ball until it glowed, then flattening it on the anvil. One person held it with tongs and a metal plate, while the other hammered it. It kept escaping at first, and I’ll admit, more than once I had to fight the instinct to catch it before remembering: "Don’t touch the hot glowing thing!" Once flattened, we stamped our initials into it using two steel stamps.

Next, we moved onto the blade, heating, hammering to lengthen and shape it, then beveling and adding the fuller. Beveling, in my opinion, was the hardest part! After shaping the blade (with a bit of help from the pros to straighten it out), we took a break for lunch. We brought our own food on day one, but were pleasantly surprised to find there was a café at the farm, which we enjoyed the next day. There’s a nice outdoor seating area and even a game room, but we opted for a peaceful walk in the beautiful countryside.

After lunch, we started work on the guard—a rectangular piece of steel we had to extend, shape, and smooth out. It was hard work, but very rewarding. Meanwhile, I was sneaking in chats with the lovely photographer, Marta (apologies again if I’ve mixed up names!). She was fantastic—checking in with me, capturing the moment beautifully, and helping me stay calm as the big moment approached.

On day two, we were assigned to Joe (again, I hope I got that right!), who brought a lot of energy and made the day even more fun. With some great tips from him, we quickly made progress on our guard, curved the edges, and moved onto sanding and grinding the blade. Then we headed to the back room to smooth and polish the blade further while Joel made the handle. The handle was then burned through (an awesome part of the process!) and charred for effect.

With everything prepared, we assembled the sword, flattened part of the pommel, and Joel welded it all together. Holding the finished sword for the first time, having made it ourselves from scratch, was incredible, we couldn’t stop smiling.

Finally, we were taken to the back for photos, where I presented the engagement ring and heard a very happy “Yes.”

We had initially hesitated to book the experience, unsure if it would be too physically demanding, especially as we had zero blacksmithing experience. But we’re so glad we went ahead, it was hands-on, exciting, and endlessly interesting. It’s not nearly as intense as it might seem, though my noodle arms were sore for two days! The team makes sure everyone can go at their own pace, and the guidance is superb.

We wholeheartedly recommend Oldfield Forge to anyone looking for a truly unique and unforgettable experience. We’re already planning to return with friends or family for another go. Thank you all for making...

Edit: after your response I am even more disappointed.

We haven’t spoken on the phone so whoever it was clearly had the same concerns as me.

To respond with “to note, others had a great experience and left 5 stars” isn’t good enough and comes across as dismissive of what we experienced. Also each instructor asks at the end of the session to leave them 5 stars as they are paid for each 5 star that mentions them.

I would take a hard look at your team and figure out how you can prevent other people from having a negative experience from the staffs behaviour.

It did not feel beginner friendly at all. This is due to the “teaching” not being in depth enough and also not enough supervision. If you’re wanting people to have enough space to do the experience by themselves then at least ask whether they would like more supervision or not. We weren’t asked once about if we have had previous experience.

And then as I’ve mentioned before. We were spoken to so rudely by some of the members of staff. There were multiple times where our metal had just turned cold and we’d get the comment “I’ve had cups of tea hotter than that.” Which is completely unnecessary.

I also was demonstrated how to use the tongs correctly as I couldn’t quite get the grip right. Then when the members of staff was done demonstrating said “take it then!” And then when I’d did just stormed off.

There was also an incident where the woman next to me dropped a hot piece of metal. On of the instructors picked it back up to give to her. As she tried to take it with the tongs he screamed in her face which frightened both me and her.

If you think that all that is mentioned is acceptable. Especially for an anxious beginner. This is not just good enough, but actually disgusting.

I first want to say how amazing the place looked and is laid out. The cafe was great and the food we did have was great. We are happy with the outcome of the dagger and I want to say a big thank you to Jamie as he was super helpful and enjoyable to be around. What we felt was a let down of our experience was the behaviour of some of the other staff. Noticeably arguing/ annoyed at each other about some things in the workshop. The biggest criticism for us was how some of the other staff communicated to us within certain parts of the dagger making. I’m not sure of their names but there were a few comments made when we were asking for help. We were made to feel stupid and spoken to rudely if we were doing things slightly wrong. You can’t expect members of the public who have never had an experience like this before to know exactly how to do every step and then proceed to put them down by making rude...

I went for a 5 hour ‘just for fun’ forging experience. There is ample free parking available but the venue could do with marking spaces clearly because the public can’t be trusted to make best use of the space when left to their own devices 😆 It’s a fantastic warm activity to do in Autumn, but wrap up warm if you’re there over lunchtime. I advise you arrive 10-20mins before your activity start time. This gives you plenty of time to register and take a good look at the selection of items you can have a go at during your session (there are more examples in the Cafe than you will find on the website). All staff and friendly and helpful.

The safety brief at the start was very good - don’t touch hot stuff!! And assume everything is hot. They kept it to the point and also a bit humorous so it wasn’t boring.

Both blacksmiths, Bristol and Lily, were great looking after me as I forged a candle holder and hook. All forging takes place in one big workshop with about 24 learning stations with anvils and shared forges. There are 4 traditional solid fuel forges with two heating zones in each and 4 gas forges that have access from either side.

The catering facilities are good with a proper little cafe. I didn’t have any food but enjoyed a coffee (£5 minimum spend if paying with card so take some cash if your not having more than one coffee). Seating indoors is limited but they have additional undercover seating outside. You can also purchase a wide range of pre-made forged items and some leather goods in the Cafe.

For any experience over 3 hours, Lunch is 12-1pm but this might not be obvious because it’s not announced - people just start disappearing from the workshop 😆 After lunch you may find that some afternoon-only groups turn up which means you may have to loiter while they have their safety brief. It felt like the blacksmith tutors are more thinly spread in the afternoon.

It’s a really fun activity. You’ll meet lots of interesting people who have travelled far and wide and develop good camaraderie.

Highly recommend. I will definitely consider returning to see if I can make a rams...