The Old Blacksmith's Shed

This photo of the Old Blacksmith's Shed was taken around 1990
long after its closure

It is reported in the newspaper article of 1958 that "Mr Bedford, 83 on Christmas Eve, and Mrs Bedford,80, live in a cottage on the main road. He was the village blacksmith for 61 years."
Little more is known of him or the work he did. The shed was situated to the East of the village just beyond the last cottage where the Bedford family lived. The cottage and the shed were both on the North side of the old A47. It is also known that there was, and probably still is, a well in close proximity to the shed.
One resident of East Norton who remembers him recalls that "he kept chickens around the shed, and a cockerel was always waiting to attack us on the way home from school".

Another recalls that he was the A.R.P. Warden during the war and to test the warning signal he would blow his whistle and afterwards shout even louder than the whistle "Did you hear that?"

George Bedford, East Norton Blacksmith for 61 Years

George at work on a local horse