Hey! And welcome back to the wagon!
This weekend I travelled down to the wagon in deepest, darkest Dorset from my city centre narrowboat in Oxford. We realised I hadn’t been down to the wagon since October last year—how time flies!
It’s roughly a hundred-mile trip to see Stewart. I have no car, so it’s the National Express for me! Stewart was there at the other end, coffee in hand, ready to pick me up on ‘Betty,’ his gorgeous Triumph T100.
The Reveal
As well as coming to spend time with Stewart, I was desperate to see what he had been making with the horseshoe nails he recently purchased. I had seen them in photos, but they are oh so much better in real life! They feel so lovely to hold—smooth, cool steel with a surprising weight to them—but more on that later…
This is a relatively new venture for us both. Stewart wanted to show me what he was creating, and I wanted to witness the process. It’s okay discussing techniques and ideas over the phone, but that only gets you so far. You really have to be there to see it. Know what I mean?
The Treasure Hunt
Stewart had been gifted a toolbox that no one was interested in from a house clearance. There were some absolute gems inside—more or less everything he needed for our little venture into jewellery making. (Or just “making” generally… it’s difficult to label it at the moment!)
The first item I noticed when I entered the wagon was the mini anvil Stewart had attached to his table with four old horseshoe nails. It is a beautiful piece of kit. It fits the wagon perfectly: old, tiny, and of another age—perfect for his sturdy little table.
Getting to Work
I had brought down some keyring parts, and we got straight to it, making little motifs to attach to them. We ended up with a heart, an angel, and a single nail that we thought we could turn into earrings at some point.
As well as the keyrings, Stewart had been working on a cross. He felt there was something missing from his original design and decided to add copper wire to the middle. I brought down various gauges of copper wire from the boat for us to experiment with.
We both had a go at wrapping the wire around the cross. It was much harder than either of us imagined! We could never get it “quite right.” But at last, there was an “aha” moment, and Stewart cracked it. The combination of the rustic nails and the bright copper finally clicked.
Protypes and plans
We were actually quite pleased with what we managed to turn out. They might just be prototypes for now, but we love them!
I’ve brought a heart keyring back to Oxford with me to give as a birthday gift later this week. As for Stewart? When I left the wagon, he was fully ‘on it’—busy crafting single nail drops for me to attach to silver hoops when I see him next.
Who knows what we’ll come up with by then? Watch this space!
