Brackenfield Heritage Cafe was treated to an absorbing and entertaining hour with Master Farrier Doug Bradbury (MBE) who held the floor with far ranging tales of his work from shoeing Derbyshire pit ponies to remedial work with race horses in Turkey. Doug and his wife, Joan, brought many intriguing examples of shoes and equipment from ancient to modern, including shoes for cows ("cow slips") and an enormous file for rasping horses' teeth. Doug has trained many apprentices and gained freedom of the City of London on becoming a Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, one of the perks being permission to drive sheep over London Bridge! Full of energy, humour and passion for his work, Doug is truly inspiring. He and Joan welcome visitors at their museum on Thanet Street in Clay Cross.
The next meeting is on Tuesday 11 December. Martha Lawrence, Curator of Archaeology at Sheffield Museum, will be coming along with some of the mediaeval Brackenfield pottery found in kiln sites at Woolley during an archaelogical dig in 1972. All welcome.