The fine, incredibly hot work of blacksmithing
Confession time. Dan and I play Dungeons & Dragons. This isn’t a revelation to those who know us, but it will clear things up for a few of you that we have yet to meet. Information like this will help when I say in a loud, geeky voice that when Niagara Antique Power Association (NAPA) announced that their 40th Annual Heritage Display event was going to be featuring Blacksmithing as a theme this year, we marked the event down as a MUST-SEE.
Beautiful gauntlets made by Thiessen Artworks
A Level 20 Blacksmith at work
A hot fire and the right tools
I have an incredible fondness for antiques and anything with a history. Attending an event like this was a natural thing for me, but what made it better was how big it was. It’s easy to pull together an event, throw some old machines on a table and call it a day. The moment Dan and I stepped out of our car, trekked our way across the farm field, I realized this event was much larger than I had anticipated.
Thankful for such a strong, cool wind on a very hot day, we decided to tackle the Horse Pulls first. I had no idea what a Horse Pull was to be honest. My girly brain just screamed “HORSEY!!!” and ignored the other minute details. When we sat down and I got a look at the set-up, my rational brain kicked in and said “Duh, it’s horses pulling stuff.” There were five groups represented (each group having two horses) and they were doing their practice walks before the pulling. Then the weights starting being added. Eventually, after practicing and light weights (by horse standards) they started packing on some serious weight. We are talking over 4000lbs of weights that two horses are having to drag behind them. Some very impressive stuff!
A light practice run before the actual Horse Pull begins
Horse Pull in action
Feeling a little lazy after watching such an amazing spectacle, we began our official adventure through the show grounds. There were some very cool things on display. Antique vehicles pulled from our past, old ways of approaching today’s conveniences and even a Trading Post.
Hold onto your top hats because here come a whack of photos…
Steam Traction Engine running the Saw Mill
One person’s junk is another’s treasure at the Trading Post
Laundry soap never looked so appealing
Classic motorcycles have a beauty that the new ones just can’t rival
Some classic cars to look at
1906 Horse Drawn Steam Powered Fire Engine
1948 Mack L85 Series Pumper
1904 Vulcan Locomotive
Antique Popcorn Machine: This was used at the famous park in Crystal Beach.
It cooks popcorn entirely by hot air and the barrel is turned by hand.
After about 7 minutes of this, the popcorn is ready!
These lovely ladies were making clothes by hand
The Niagara Skyhunters Birds of Prey exhibit was quite fascinating. To see these birds up close and learn a bit about them helped bridge a relatively unexplored relationship we have with predators. I could see the total focus they had on every movement I made and how much power they carried in their small bodies.
Great Horned Owl clearly not impressed by me – funny, my cat looks at me the same way
Peregrine Falcon
Bald Eagle
It was a long day and our hot faces were eager to get into the cool air-conditioning of our car but it wasn’t like we were pulling 4000lbs behind us the whole way. I’ll leave that to the horses. It was a great day and I would suggest you check out their show next year!
Hi Dan and Katie,
Love this article and your site!
I will be letting my family know about it.
Thank you!
Tammy (neighbour)
Thanks for the kind words, Tammy!
It has been fun to get out to events like this and the site has kept us really busy while connecting us to all the culture, nature and events that made us fall in love with Niagara.
-Dan