Preparing the furnace. Top right, collecting molten iron to pour (below) into moulds made from designs by local schoolchildren. Right, examples of the resulting castings.



Sculptor and blacksmith Mike Davies (above left) worked with Caerleon children to produce designs to be cast in iron at the Festival on Friday July 13 - the date prompting a theme for the children's ideas, Superstition.

The children researched the theme in the weeks leading up to the festival and were encouraged to produce 2D and 3D images alongside creative writing and poetry.

Six half-day workshop sessions took place on the Festival site during the week before the Iron Pour. The time was spent with the children making the patterns and sand moulds in preparation for casting.

A team from West Wales School of the Arts at Carmarthen, prepared the raw materials on site, using re-cycled iron and breaking up and grading coke for the cupolette (furnace). The cupolette, called Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) was constructed in 2006 by a group of students led by Andrew Griffiths, sculptor and BA Sculpture Course Leader.

The Iron Pour Team included four experienced West Wales sculptors, Robert Booth, Mike Davies, Andrew Griffiths and Hazel Sawyer.

The castings will be finished in the artist’s studio and presented to the participating schools.

The project was funded by the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government