THE BLACKSMITH BOYS
The guys at Blenheim Forge have brought the ancient art of hand-forged bladesmithing to South London, making exquisite knives for the kitchen elite. Food writer Gareth May braves the heat and the hammering to find out how they’ve done it
Behind the rusty iron gate of Arch 229 in Blenheim Court, Peckham, the scene is like something out of fantasy TV show Game of Thrones. Through the gloom, I can make out an anvil at the edge of the room; the harsh screech of metal on stone fills the air; and in the half-light of the grimy workshop, three forms are busy grinding blades.
Covered in soot and apron-clad, Jon Warshawsky looks like a man who’s spent his life in a forge. I’m shocked when he tells me he was desk-bound for the first part of his career, pursuing a life in academia. That was until the summer of 2012 when he and his best mate James Ross-Harris became bored – and decided to make a knife. And not just any knife; a chef’s knife with a pattern-welded steel blade, known as damascus steel. Pretty much the trickiest knife in the world to make.