BURNING AMBITION

TEENAGER JAY SHUNNED UNIVERSITY TO BECOME TRADITIONAL BLACKSMITH AT 19

- By ED CHATTERTON

A 21-YEAR-OLD who shunned university to forge a career as a traditional blacksmith while he was still a teenager is hoping to inspire more young people into the ancient trade.

Jay Cardall took up the historic profession just one-and-a-half years ago after getting bored with working as a joiner.

He previously turned his back on the idea of academia after seeing his friends go off to university and knew it “wasn’t for him”.

Instead, he completed a qualification in joinery but soon got fed up with the repetitiveness of fitting kitchens and bathrooms.

Jay joined Mather of Tibshelf in April 2024, when he was 19, and says he is already on course to buy his own house.

The traditional business uses ancient forge welding techniques to create metalwork at a smithy dating back to the 1600s.

Jay, who works 40 hours a week, says he hope to encourage more young people into the historic trade in the era of the digital age.

There are believed to be fewer than 500 trainees looking to take up the profession and only 990 blacksmiths in the UK as of October last year.