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What the workshop was all about - click here
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YORKSHIRE WORKSHOP: HEALAUGH 5TH APRIL
2003
'I have asked Sian Wynn to write the report of the
Workshop that we held at the forge of Master Farrier Glen Brooke, as she
once again made the long journey to support our group. (280 miles round
trip!) Our next event will be
a talk on Munnings by Robin Furness (he is an expert on the subject and
entertaining). This will be in
late May; date on the web ASAP. Our
next workshop is, hopefully, going to be at the Royal Armouries, studying
the jousting horses and the armour of war horses - still to be finalised
so keep loggin’ on!! - Glynis' |
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You may wonder why Glynis should co-opt someone from the depths of
Cambridgeshire to report on a Yorkshire workshop.
For me, as a Yorkshire ‘ex-pat’, the invitation to a workshop
at Glen Brooke’s beautiful old forge was an excuse to go home and
revisit old haunts. (Just up
the road from Healaugh is Wighill Park, where my Father sometimes played
cricket and where my brother and I, with any other children present, would
make a bee-line for the pond. By
the end of the match we would have acquired a bucketful of tadpoles and a
liberal coating of mud!) |
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The day began early, piling paints, easel, dog and husband (volunteer
chauffeur –‘if you can’t beat them, join them!’) into the car and
hitting the road before 6am. The
dawn was glorious. Unfortunately we left the sun behind somewhere in
Nottinghamshire, and the warmth with it!
Arriving in Tadcaster just after 8am, we found that the only place
open for coffee, was Glynis’s kitchen (thanks Glynis!) and by 8.45 we
were all assembling outside Glen’s forge in Healaugh. Tutor
for the day was Malcolm Coward, and Glynis was pleased to have a turnout
of 10 artists, including herself. Introductions
to Glen and his wife, Julia, were made over coffee, not to mention their
young sons, Henry and Danny, Boss the Springer Spaniel, Toad the JR
terrier and Lewis the ‘Notverytrustworthy’ Ferret! |
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Having thawed out our fingers, it was time to get to work.
The forge is a wonderful old brick building that has probably
changed little in 100 years or more. Battered
wooden stalls separate the horses from the furnace and anvil.
The mellow brick walls are lined with tools, and with racks of iron
rods from which Glen makes all his own shoes, including the heavyweight
ones for Sam Smith’s Shires, who still deliver beer around Tadcaster.
Everyone crowded into the forge, or around the entrance, and at
some point Henry brought out a table and chair and joined us.
The first pony to be shod was a piebald, Bodie, from Glen’s own
yard. He was oblivious to
easels, paints, camera flashes and strange people lurking in odd corners.
The atmosphere was wonderful, with the glow of the fire and red hot
shoes, and the air filled with smoke and the smell of burnt horn.
It was just a pity that there was no sunshine to light the interior
and filter through the pantiles on the roof.
Never mind, you can’t have everything!
Bodie was followed by Bonny Lad, a red roan Welsh Section B
belonging to Henry and Danny. Next
came a little hairy Welsh palomino, Rags, and his entourage of small
children, who were fascinated to see us at work. While
Glen took a break, Goat (another from the home yard) stood in, making a
splash of colour in his red rug, and then a trailer arrived carrying
Glen’s final customer of the morning, a grey hunter, so we had plenty of
variety in colour and type of model. Fortunately
they all followed Bodie’s example and ignored all the strange, spooky
people with all their paraphernalia! The
whole procedure was supervised closely by Boss, and Toad – both on the
lookout for bits of hoof to chew. Every
now and then they would disappear into the cave-like space beneath the
furnace, to gnaw their trophies in the warmth!
The dogs were as interesting to draw as Glen and the horses.
Most of us gathered round sketching or painting in the forge, but,
for those who wanted the challenge of painting a pink pony, Julia stood
Bonny out in the yard, until it was time for a demonstration of
horsemanship from young Danny! |
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Many thanks are due to our hosts, Glen and Julia
Brooke for their hospitality, to Henry and Danny for the use of their
pony, and to Anna for horse-holding and coffee making.
Thankyou also to Malcolm, for his help and advice, and to Glynis
for organising another very good workshop.
It may only have been short, (finishing in plenty of time for the
Grand National!) but we actually got a lot of work done!
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Footnote:
Best laid plans don’t always work out.
Most of us packed our bags and headed for lunch at the Angel and
White Horse in Tadcaster, home of Sam Smith’s Shires, of Terrence
Cuneo’s portrait of one of Smith’s grey Shires, Sam Smith’s
Ales and good, no nonsense food. The
horses were there, the painting was there, the bar was open BUT they
DON’T DO SATURDAY LUNCH!!! On
the barmaid’s advice, Bruce headed for the local deli (your web-master
has his uses!) so we all had a ‘take out deli lunch’ in the pub while
debating what would win the National!
My sentimental vote was for Gunner Welburn (Glynis said it was a
year too late for him), but Gunner Welburn was my grandfather’s great
friend and neighbour.
As a baby, I met my first
horses and learned to love them in Gunner’s point-to-point yard in East
Keswick (not far from Tad). He
would have enjoyed his namesake’s run on Saturday!
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