The blacksmith was an indispensable member of the community. There was once enough work to support three blacksmiths in the village. In the summer they were kept busy shoeing horses and hooping wheels of carts and wagons - in winter they repaired harrows and ploughs and other agricultural implements. This photo shows James Bell outside the smithy with his assistant in 1914. He continued to live in the blacksmith's house at East Villas until his death in 1944 at the age of 90.