42
The Last of its Kind
Time was when blacksmiths were both busy and numerous. But with the passing years, the horse, once the backbone of the transport and farming industries, has gradually been replaced by shiny new animals with steering wheels instead of bridles, and rubber wheels instead of horseshoes.
And with the passing of the horse, the familiar sight of the busy blacksmith at his forge has passed, too. Until today, in all the district from Napier across to Matamata only one blacksmith's shop remains.
It is three or four miles out of Gisborne, next door to the Jolly Stockman Hotel at Matawhero, where blacksmith Frank Hollis (below) still plies his trade.
43
Making horseshoes is an art at which very few still excel. Although Frank's shop is the only one in the district, there are still a number of portable outfits which travel from station to station. Horseshoe is made from bar of iron in a few minutes. It is heated in forge, shaped, cut to size, punched for nail holes, and filed. The final fitting is done as the horse is shod.