History

Jacks Bush Forge was established in 1994 by Martyn Dean. Martyn having completed a full apprenticeship with ex Rural Development Commission instructor Laurence Love, decided to go out on his own after Laurence decided to down size to move towards retirement.

After being taught that quality ironwork, properly made should last for decades, Martyn started by offering high quality Ironwork to other metalworkers as well as private customers.

Martyn set up his Forge at Jacks Bush Farm in a redundant 19thcentury traditional building and still operates from here on a daily basis.

In 1998 Martyn added his first employee, a welder/fabricator and together they produced many high quality items for several years. After a while the growing work load developed a need for office staff and so Linda also joined the business in 2001. The business continued to grow and with the arrival of larger and larger contracts Martyn decided it was time to bring new blood into the world of Blacksmithing.

Simon joined the team straight from school in 2007. Studying at Southampton City College on day release, learning welding and fabrication operations which was a 3 year course. In addition Simon was also enrolled onto the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths New Entrants Training Scheme (NETS) at Hereford College. This course was for 3 years on a block release basis. Simon received not only his Blacksmith Journeyman but also the highly prized Worshipful Company certificate of Merit. Simon left in December 2015 to run a workshop for a local business.

Martyn added a Gate Automation qualification to his many other skills in 2009 so that the business could offer a complete package to the customer. Together with auto CAD qualifications (computer aided design) Martyn can demonstrate a high quality product and present it to the potential client in a fully professional and up to date manner.

Matthew joined the team in September 2014, again a school leaver with a passion for Blacksmithing. Matthew was already enrolled at Kingston Maurward College on a Blacksmith Foundation course and worked at Jacks Bush Forge as a part time apprentice. Matthew secured a full time job in December 2016 at a local fabrication company.

Graham joined the team in January 2016, ex service personnel and 7 years experience in a family Blacksmiths has given Graham a passion for metal work fabrication. Graham is completing his final project to achieve his Blacksmith qualifications and in June 2019 has returned to the Lake District to run the family Blacksmiths. 

Oscar joined the team in September 2018 and is completing a Fabrication and Welding apprenticeship with day release training at City College Southampton.