16th November 2023 • The HERALD • Page 73 v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v VAUXTECH LOCAL GARAGE Tel: 023 8086 9496 Unit 5, New Forest Enterprise Centre, Totton, Southampton SO40 9LA LOCAL GARAGE EST 27 YEARS • Servicing & Repairs • MOT’s (arranged) • Brakes • Clutches • Tyres • Air Conditioning • Collection & Delivery Locally Friendly & Reliable Onsite Café Facilities All Makes & Models signi cant change to the family was that their mother Annie, now aged 46, opened a sweet shop in Fawley. During the period of James’s life, the blacksmith was an important integral part of village life. Fawley was a very busy thriving village (Pre -AGWI and EXXON), and supported two blacksmiths. Black eld, at that time was very insigni cant. e forge where James worked was located to the rear of Jasmine Cottage, in Fawley. James was entered in the register of e Worshipful Company of Farriers, a City of London Livery Company, registered as a Shoeing Smith, on 17 September 1903. It was a noisy place with the blacksmith hammering away at his anvil using a very large heavy hammer. He would be wearing a thick leather apron to protect his clothes from the hot ying sparks of the red-hot metals he was shaping. If he was shoeing a horse, the large shire type horses would be tethered to a ring in the wall of the forge. ese huge horses would be mainly used for ploughing and pulling various agricultural machinery along, or perhaps for pulling logs or tree trunks out of woods. Most transport would be horse drawn and a farrier would shoe horses and ponies of all breeds and sizes. ere would be sturdy horses used for hunting, elegant long- legged horses ridden by the wealthier clients, carriage horses, ponies used for pulling carts and all di erent modes of transport. Apart from horse transport, it was, for most people, especially in a rural village, the only mode of daily transport other than a bicycle or walking. At that time a basic tractor would have probably been out of the question nancially for the small local village farmers. A blacksmith did not only shoe horses. Being a farrier (making and tting horseshoes) was a skilled job, and could sometimes be dangerous if the horse was nervous and kicked out at having it’s shoes replaced. However, the job would provide a basic regular income. He would also mend broken metal items such as farm machinery, farm gates and animal cages. Occasionally he would be called upon to design and make ornate wrought-iron gates. James would have been an indispensable person within the busy village of Fawley. Although James was not eligible for war time military service, his son Ernest William omas Wills did serve in the Hampshire Regiment in 1919 a er WWI, as a Shoeing Smith. Ernest is recorded as having died in 1980 at the age of 89. Annie died in 1929, and the funeral service was held in All Saint’s Church, Fawley, o ciated by the Rector F. Harvey. Some time a er this, James was recorded as having moved to Myrtle Cottage in Fawley, where two of his daughters, Lucy and Bertha, lived. James had lived through two World Wars, and seen enormous changes in people’s way of living. James died, aged 81, on August 16th1946, and was buried in All Saint’s Graveyard, Fawley. My thanks to Rob Bevis who so kindly permitted me to write this ‘Tale’ about one of his many relatives buried within the Graveyard, and for all the information he forwarded to me. Tales from the Graveyard of All Saint’s Church in Fawley Continued from page 72 Christmas Fun Day in Lyndhurst Visit Santa and his real reindeer at Lyndhurst Community Centre, part of a Christmas Fun Day in Lyndhurst on Saturday 2nd December, 10am to 4pm. ere will be a Christmas Market, juggler and stilt walker, face painter and more! Parking is free. At 5pm Santa will go down the High Street for carols and singing around the Christmas tree. Holly Fair at Gang Warily is year’s Holly Fair is taking place on 3rd December, 2pm to 4.30pm, in the Sports Centre at Gang Warily. If you would like to book a pitch, the deadline is Friday 24th November. e fee is £10 per pitch, they will provide a table, if you need more than one pitch it will be an additional £10 per table. For more information please visit: www.fawley-pc. gov.uk/gang-warily-holly-fair
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