Resident Silversmith at The Smiddy, Banff (The Scottish one not the Canadian one)

The Smiddy at Banff is the brainchild of Scott MacIntyre, the silversmithing sister to his jewellers school in Glasgow. They have been on my radar since day one, not only because Scott is a bit of a legend (until he gets his guitar out and starts to sing…) but the whole ethos of his schools are identical to mine. It is all about educating, inspiring and empowering.

There is no oneupmanship, no hieracrchy, just a good old wanting to help everyone achieve their potential. Perfect.

And it is no understatement that the workshops in both places are top notch, everything you could possibly need to help you create to your hearts content.

So of course I was very excited when I was invited to come and be the resident silversmith here in Banff for the summer. Its only 600 miles away from home (!) so I stopped off a few places on the way up, and got to visit the Glasgow workshop before heading up to glorious Banff.

I should admit that not only is the workshop phenomenal but also Banff is a quiet little sleeping coastal town, my favourite type of place. It has always had a very strong silversmithing community here, thanks to being on the river where the goods used to come into Scotland from the sea. The story I was told (and I hope it is true) is that Lords would spend the winter here, knowing they would get snowed in, with their mistresses as they knew they would have everything they needed thanks to the produce arriving at the harbour (mostly food and drink) so of course they needed fine houses to live in - and you can see many many find buildings in and around Banff - and of course you can’t throw dinner parties without having the best silverware!

Banff also had its own silver mark, before a centralised assay office came about in Edinburgh and I have seen lots of examples of these in the local museum, where they also have the oldest handmade silver teapot in Scotland.

While I am here I will be teaching some courses but mostly I am here to relax, recharge, fill myself with inspiration and work on my own skills and designs. I am halfway through and it has been amazing so far… I’m not sure I want to leave….