Brendan Thompson remembers the day his fascination with fire was truly ignited.
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The young lad had been up riding in the High Country, came off his horse and was stuck at camp, a miserable fate when you're 18, and full of vim and vigour.
"I got a bit of steel and put in the fire and started playing around with it," he recalls.
And like that, he was hooked.
There were other jobs in the ensuing years but the flame had been lit, so at 27 he started a course with a blacksmith.
"For me it's not a job," the 50-year-old says.
"Maybe it's the little kid inside me that still likes playing with fire ...
"But no, it's about being able to take a bit of raw material and make it into something so beautiful."
And now, Brendan has realised a long-held dream of opening his own blacksmith shop off Rutherglen's Main Street.
It wasn't so much about hunting down the right location as the perfect space presenting itself, quite by chance.
It was during a visit last year to his sister, Kerrie-Anne Thompson, that Brendan, an admirer of old buildings, stopped in for a beer at the historic Victoria Hotel.
"I saw the old building out the back and started poking around, asking a few questions," he explains.
It turns out the huge, dusty space was the old horse stables built about 1868 - a fitting location for a blacksmith's shop.
"It's been sitting there forever, just rotting away," Brendan says.
""I think it was just some extra storage for the pub."
Brendan knew he'd found the right place and, after a few calls to the owner, the deal to lease the premises was sealed.
On Friday night he officially opened 4 Elements Blacksmithing to the public, although word has already spread like wildfire through the town.
He will make and sell items including wine-glass holders, fire poker sets, gates, locks, hinges, hooks and brackets; you name it.
"Although I won't be making horse shoes," he laughingly points out and explains that's a "running blacksmith joke".
Every piece is hand-made, crafted with care; a one-off.
"I'm not a factory, I don't mass produce stuff," Brendan explains.
And while items like wine holders are his "bread and butter", Brendan finds artistic freedom in forging new creations from the fire.
"I get lost in it," he admits.
"A piece of me goes into every item.
"You're not just buying a piece of art, you are buying a piece of me as well ... that's how much heart goes into it.
It's clear this venture in this particular building is more a labour of love than a hard-bitten commercial calling.
The space itself is a huge part of the appeal, Brendan says.
Nestled between the Victoria Hotel and Parker Pies, the blacksmith shop is accessed via the carriageway - "a bit like the Beechworth Brewery entrance".
He is fascinated by the history of the stables and surrounding buildings, which include a morgue, built in 1836, still with its original window.
"Apparently the publican got sick of the autopsies being done in the rooms at the pub so he built a morgue out the back," Brendan recounts.
He's avidly tracking down townsfolk with any connections or stories associated with the stable building.
One of the locals reports that bushranger Ned Kelly rested his horses in the stables and had a couple of pints in the pub on his way to robbing the bank at Jerilderie.
"It wouldn't surprise me - it's a long ride from Glenrowan," Brendan remarks cheerfully.
Whatever stories these walls hold, Brendan believes the space will appeal to tourists.
You're not just buying a piece of art, you are buying a piece of me as well ... that's how much heart goes into it.
- Brendan Thompson
"It's all about the location and there's a resurgence of interest in lost trades," he says.
He's already fielding enquiries from car clubs and other groups keen to take a day trip out to the blacksmith's shop.
Further down the track he intends to organise events with other blacksmiths and even a yearly lost trades fair.
There's potential for school groups to visit and enjoy a working history lesson.
"Back in the old days blacksmiths were honoured; they often had a seat at the king's table," Brendan says.
"The world wouldn't be what it is without the blacksmith: the ships that got people here were held together by their work.
"In the early days of settlement, the first building was usually the blacksmith and then the church.
"Because most early towns didn't have bells, the blacksmith would use his anvil to call people for worship.
"The anvil was also used at funerals, calling for Saint Peter to open the gates of heaven for the dearly departed."
These long-held traditions form an important part of our history, according to Brendan, who says he intends to keep the flame alive by passing on this knowledge to future generations.
He's recently become a grandfather, which had further fuelled his desire to return to the region where he grew up.
"It's time for me to stop working away and come home," he reflects.
"All my life I thought this would be my retirement; I'm looking forward to curling up next to the open fire in the tack room come winter."
- The blacksmith is open 7am-12pm weekdays; 7am-4pm weekends.