life
INTERVIEW
The family stand on the spot where it all
started over 60 years ago. Pictured Left
Diane Andrews, Rosemary Brooks, Steve
Cross, Fergus Cross and Jane Cross
The Old Smithy
Past and present
By: Roz Whistance
N
othing about The Old Smithy
in Godshill is as you’d expect.
There is no blacksmith, for
starters, though of course there once was,
and you can see the original smithy from
the newly enlarged Coffee Shop. What the
Old Smithy is today is a relaxed place to
browse for out-of-the ordinary gifts and
clothes. But the surprising thing is that it
thrives as a business because it does more
for its customers than it asks of them. Its
story is about the foresight of one family
and its effects on a village.
It was the village butcher Reg Andrews
who, way back in 1948, bought up the
blacksmith’s premises, which by then
32
was a print shop, to sell postcards of the
picturesque church and thatched cottages,
and miniature lucky horeshoes. He had
spotted what would today be called a
marketing opportunity. “Godshill had
been known since the 1800s as a place for
visitors,” says his daughter, Diane. “People
came out from Ryde in horse-drawn
coaches and later charabancs for cream
teas – I’ve got a photo somewhere of
Queen Anne coming for a trip out here.”
At the time Reg’s cattle would graze
on the land currently shared by the
conservatory and car park. He would cut
up the meat in the morning, take it on his
rounds, then be back to serve in his little
shop in the afternoons. “Dad was a real
character, always laughing and joking with
people and generally drawing a crowd.
Having read about Gretna Green, he
decided he could ‘marry’ people over the
blacksmith’s anvil. He had fake marriage
lines printed and would hand these out
with his ‘lucky’ horseshoes, creating a
party atmosphere in the old forge.”
He watched the growing popularity of
the motor car, and with the foresight of
a natural entrepreneur decided to cater
for them. He applied to have part of the
marshland next to the Smithy filled in for
a car park for 30 or 40 cars. “It helped
Godshill become one of the Island’s most
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