Richard ParrIt has been an integral part of English life for centuries.Richard Parr

It has been an integral part of English life for centuries.

However, a famous craft was given a distinctively international flavour at the weekend when blacksmiths from all over Europe gathered at a Norfolk forge.

And their work with anvil and hammer was a labour of love as they created individual contributions towards a memorial for a master blacksmith killed in a motor bike accident.

The noise of the hammer hitting the heated iron could be heard throughout Nigel Barnett's forge at Cranes Corner, at Great Fransham, near Dereham, on Saturday, as an assortment of individually crafted leaves and flowers were produced to be put onto a garden pergola given as a memorial gift to Sue Capes in memory of her husband, David Capes, a life-long Norfolk farrier and blacksmith.

Mr Capes, 60, was killed in April last year on the A47 at Hockering.

And his widow couldn't hide her tears as she watched the blacksmiths, who were her late husband's friends, create the artistic pieces in the legacy of love that will take pride of place in her garden at her home at Frans Green, near East Tuddenham.

'Dave was well-loved and well-liked and he knew all these blacksmiths as friends and it is wonderful that they are making this gift for me in his memory, he would have been blown away to think they have done this for me,' she said.

There was a real spirit of international friendship and skill-sharing as metal hit metal in the latest 'forge-in' event which attracted dozens of blacksmiths from this country and overseas.

Mr Barnett, who has been working in metal since he was 14, explained that every second year he organises a 'forge-in' at which master blacksmiths and young blacksmiths come together from this country and abroad.

'This weekend there were blacksmiths from various parts of Europe as well as Cornwall, Scotland and Wales and they shared their skills. It's about sharing your trade and keeping your craft alive and not many trades do that now,' he said.

Jeremy Stanley had travelled from Ireland for the event and was busy at the anvil creating roses, leaves and apple designs to go on the memorial.

'I have been a farrier for 25 years so blacksmithing is new to me, so I am learning a lot of new techniques. It is lovely to come to this event and meet people and watch the way blacksmiths deal with different problems,' he said.

Mrs Capes added: 'This pergola will be a wonderful memorial to Dave who did so much to promote the traditional craft and set young blacksmiths on the road in their careers.'

The blacksmiths, who had come to Norfolk from Italy, Germany, Belgium France and Ireland, spoke of how much they enjoyed coming together and sharing their own ideas, techniques and skills.