The blacksmith's art is alive and well in the heart of west Dorset where a unique business is set to feature on a popular BBC cooking series.
Alex Pole and his team create bespoke cookware, kitchen knives, garden tools and axes from their workshop in Broadoak, near Bridport.
The team's profile is set to be raised after they were visited by the motorcycle-riding celebrity chefs the Hairy Bikers for their latest TV series, The Hairy Bikers Go West.
The brand new series sees the duo - Si King and Dave Myers - travel down the west coast of the UK after Dave finished his cancer treatment. It was announced in May 2022 Dave was receiving treatment and he took took a break before filming the latest series.
They visited The Forge where Alex took the duo through the process of making their own chefs' knives to be used on the show.
“They approached me and thought it would be interesting to make their own knives,” explains Alex.
“I watched them from my office ride up, they were here for about five hours and I showed them how to forge a chef’s knife from raw bits of steel to the finished project.
“We took them through the whole process grinding it, quenching it, and fitting the handles.”
He added: “It was great to have them here, they are people I have been watching for years and I am obsessed with restaurants and seeing see the knives used.”
Alex explained that Si did most of the heavy lifting while the duo were at The Forge to allow Dave to rest.
A blacksmith and jeweller for around 30 years, Alex has honed his trade around the world in places such as France, Spain and Australia, as well as all across the West Country.
It is in Dorset where the 51-year-old decided to settle though, where he can trace his roots back almost 600 years.
His workshop at Broadoak has been established for two years and Alex goes on to explain what makes his business so unique.
He added: “Businesses like mine, there are almost none, just a couple in America.”
“The main bit of business is making kitchenware, anything from frying pans to knives.”
“We make very traditional cookware and bespoke cutlery for Michelin star restaurants as well.
“It is the same skills blacksmiths have used for thousand years but with a fusion of modern things bringing it into the 21st century.
“As far as I know, no one else in country is making hand forged cutlery.”
As well as making and selling the items they create at the workshop, Alex and his team offer courses in knife making, as well as cookery classes, and he compares ordering food from a restaurant as similar to creating one of his knives.
He added: “If someone orders a dish at restaurant, there will be subtle differences, we are human beings we are not trying to be machines.
“We teach knife making to groups of 8 people at a time.
"Some people go off piste, a lot is in the handle making where you get the differences.
“Some of the difference are also in the way you hit the knife.
“Part of the skill for us and the personal pride is to forge the same thing over and over again.”
With that in mind. Alex is looking forward to seeing how the knives he helped Si and Dave create will be used when Episode 7 airs on BBC 2 on Tuesday, March 19 at 7pm.
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