Blacksmith passes on traditional skills to young trainees for television series

The trio spent six weeks training with York blacksmith Don Barker which were condensed into one episode of the new series Mastercrafts, presented by Monty Don on BBC 2, at 9pm tonight.

Dominic Branch, Gill Fewings, Hugh Gallagher were taken under the wing of Mr Barker, who can trace his blacksmithing ancestry back to John Cooper of Helmsley in the early 18th century.

The filming was done at a forge in South Ferriby, north Lincolnshire, dating back to 1500 and containing equipment from 1798.

"It hadn't been used for 20 years but the BBC thought it was a fabulous venue," said Mr Barker, who can turn his hand to anything from making a humble poker to massive estate gates.

Projects have included making gas lights and restoring the railings at Westminster Abbey as well as the Queen Mother's memorial on the Mall in London.

The 65-year-old, who runs his blacksmith business from Elvington and Wiggington near York, said: "I really enjoyed making the programme. I'd like to think we could encourage younger people into the craft. After the 1960s and the 1970s they started taking all the craftwork out of schools, they took the woodwork out, the metalwork out and anything else going.

"But the whole point of education is not everybody wants to be sitting in front of a keyboard working at a computer – a lot of people want to work with their hands."

The programme shows that women are just as likely to become proficient blacksmiths as men.

Mr Barker said: "Generally speaking it is men who go into it but I had a girl on this course and she hadn't been bought up in the masculine tradition of hammering nails into wood.

"They rushed off because they had the aptitude and the ability inbuilt if you like and she didn't, but after a few weeks she managed to crack it and get the hang of it and once she got going she was as good as the blokes.

"In their way women are sometimes better because they have a different approach to design.

"Masculine stuff tends to be a bit hard and can be ugly, whereas they can use a feminine touch, which softens the design and make it attractive."