A brilliant flash of light, a disorienting whirl of sensations, and suddenly, I find myself, an 18th-century blacksmith named Osric, in the heart of modern Melbourne. My surroundings are startlingly unfamiliar – the hustle and bustle of people, towering glass structures reaching for the heavens, and the cacophony of strange sounds and smells. There’s no rhythmic clang of my hammer on hot metal, no familiar bellows, and no sense of the past I’ve left behind.
Lost in this new cityscape, I stumble upon a sign that immediately catches my eye, offering steel supplies for sale near Melbourne. My heart leaps with recognition. Steel – that, at least, is something I know. Feeling a glimmer of hope, I push the door and step inside, and what I see leaves me awestruck.
The sheer range of steel available is mind-boggling. Shiny bars, sturdy beams, and sheets of cold, gleaming metal, materials that would have taken weeks of meticulous toiling to create back in my forge. The quality of the steel – so high, so consistent – is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a testament to the progress that mankind has made in steel production.
A worker, who initially gives me a puzzled look – probably because of my archaic attire – soon warms up to my enthusiastic curiosity. He explains how they work with the steel, describing procedures and machinery that sound more like magic than reality. My primitive forge and bellows are a stark contrast to their mechanised production processes, their precise tools and techniques.
Before leaving, my newfound friend points me in the direction of the best structural steel fabricators close to Melbourne. The word ‘fabricators’ feels strange on my tongue, but I understand they’re the blacksmiths of this era, craftsmen like me. Intrigued by this modern approach to my age-old profession, I decide that’s my next stop.
As I step back into the Melbourne sun, my initial disorientation fades. I’m still a blacksmith, albeit one lost in time. I have a newfound respect for the steel makers of this era, and a burning curiosity to understand this intersection of past and present. I’m eager to explore how my centuries-old craft has evolved and how I can merge the time-honoured traditions of my forge with the advanced steelworking techniques of modern Melbourne.