3 / 20
MATHS AND SCIENCES 3
Blacksmithing At Bancroft’s L4th Big Bang
Fair Trip
Fawzan Siddiqui, L4S
The 16 March saw twenty-three lucky
L4s embark on a bus ride to the NEC,
Birmingham, to enjoy a few hours of The
Big Bang Fair. Without a doubt, the event
was more than worth the two-hour journey
during which we all to endure Mr Ceeraz’s
and Mr Raw’s science jokes. The gargantuan
fair housed a showfloor of several stalls and
stages, ranging from topics of solving maths
problems to experiencing immersive virtual
reality, as well as much more. Primarily, the
trip was a chance for us to experience and
learn more about physics, chemistry, and
biology, however the Bancroftian scientists
who went got the opportunity to engage in
new areas.
Arriving at 10am meant we had around three hours in a
place ten times the size of Bancroft’s’ science fairs. To
start with, my group queued to solve maths problems in
the hope of unlocking and opening ‘The Vault’ (a metal
box containing sweets). We lived up to the Bancroftian
mathematician stereotype and answered each problem
before the time ran out, seizing our prize with ease.
In addition, some of us also attended the Energy
Superhero interactive stand. During this, students took
part in a quiz in which ‘big questions’ regarding energy
conservation, fossil fuels and climate change had to be
tackled, with the aim of becoming ‘Energy Superheroes’.
Apart from the free mask and other items that came
with it, this particular stand was certainly fun, and was
a good way of testing and expanding our knowledge.
Finally, a most intriguing stand was STEMtastic’s Simple
Hovercraft; this taught how a real hovercraft works,
making us understand the principles of it. This linked
GCSE physics’ skills with engineering, which is why it
appealed to me, as it delved into concepts such as the
effect of friction, air pressure, particles, energy, and
forces. In the end, we could choose the materials most
suitable for crafting a simple model hovercraft, design
and construct it, and take it home.
These are few examples out of the multitude of stands
and shows the Big Bang Fair had to offer. Mr Raw and
Mr Ceeraz had organised a wonderful day of fun and
learning. Upon returning to School from this worthwhile
trip, we came to the definitive decision that collecting
the numerous freebies we’d brought back was an
unequivocal highlight!
Anwar Jouhary, L6N
Blacksmithing is an ancient craft,
older than most teachers, but
one which is absent from our
lives outside of popular culture.
Whether it be from
Game of
Thrones
or
Lord of the Rings
,
most of us have heard of giant
bearded men heating up a chunk of metal in huge pits of
coal and striking it repeatedly with brute force to achieve something
beautiful, such as a sword or candlestick. While these products of
hard labour are what most associate with blacksmiths, they are the
result of many years of work and dedication, taking a handful of basic
techniques and refining them as well as producing the tools needed
to create a final masterpiece.
Outside of my typically Bancroftian interests, such as mathematics, I wanted to
experience the heat which so many have felt before, to know what it feels like to take
a simple piece of metal and produce something much more. As a result of this desire,
I have endeavoured to establish a Blacksmithing Society within Bancroft’s. A small
number of my friends and I, as well as Mr Salamwho has been instrumental to this
process, have built up the knowledge and experience with the craft within the School
over the past two years. We have taken the hearth in the DT department and the
discarded tools found beside it and utilised them to make very basic items.
One of my first efforts in blacksmithing was to create a handle for my GCSE DT project.
At this point, I was inexperienced, to a lesser extent I still am, but through the process
of study, emulation and experimentation, I produced something of which I was proud.
Through the creation of this handle, I encountered obstacles, such as a severe breakage
which, while initially disheartening, gave me that drive to continue and a valuable
experience to learn from.
This year, being in L6, I was given a greater degree of freedom to pursue my interest
in blacksmithing and I was able to set up the School’s first Blacksmithing Society (that
I know of) with a grand total of five members. During our meetings, we have been
working on a project that we hope to finish by the end of the academic year. This
project, while centred on blacksmithing, also utilises a degree of woodworking and may
include a bit of leatherwork depending on the direction we decide to take.
The 28 February was an exciting day as Mr Salam arranged for a professional
blacksmith to come into School and teach us some blacksmithing. The two extremes of
the coal forge and copious amounts of snow outside blended to create an interesting
sensation, one which could most aptly be called ‘icy hot’. Aside from the valuable
experience which we all gained, we also had words of wisdom imparted to us: namely
that blacksmithing is the king of crafts, without it the carpenter would have neither his
hammer nor chisel and most other crafts would not have the basic tools which facilitate
the crafts themselves.
I hope this society continues after I have left as I believe an appreciation for manual
crafts is vital to an understanding of where humans have come from. Such an
appreciation is fading to near-extinction, especially among the youth of today, with a
wasteful and materialistic culture fostering apathy towards unseen craftsmen and the
worship of machines without souls.
In order to facilitate an appreciation that future generations may otherwise miss, I
encourage those who may have even a tangential interest in blacksmithing to contact
me about joining the society next year, be you teacher or student, you will be welcome;
however there are a few rules, mainly: no swords/
pas d’épées/sin espadas.