Thornhill was busy today, and my usual parking spot near the Drumlanrig Cafe was unavailable. By chance, I found a space at the Old School, located behind Nate’s forge. Frequent visitors to Thornhill will likely know of the giant fork leaning against the two-storey sandstone villa that stands at the top of the driveway leading to the forge. If you’re unfamiliar with Thornhill and would like to see this unusual piece of art, turn east in the town centre and head towards the hills. Soon, you’ll come to a divide in the road marked by a statue of the explorer Joseph Thomson. Take the left turn and, just beyond the rows of cars awaiting service, you’ll see the giant table fork up the driveway on your right. Having been here before, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to look over the wall round the back of the forge and catch sight of a giant cat stretching up into the branches of what could have been an apple tree, a scene perhaps out of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. But it was just Nate up to his tricks. The cat is an eye catching departure from his trademark blacksmithing. Dinosaurs form a conspicuous part of his work, but beautifully wrought highland cattle, sheep, goats and birds all emerge from the modest space of his workshop, a restored single-storey sandstone outbuilding tucked round the back of the house with the fork.

I returned to my car a little later in the day and this time there was a living and breathing cat sitting on the wall, black and white and bearing a striking resemblance to the giant in the background. In that serendipitous moment, Nate himself appeared from the back door of his forge and stopped for a chat. He was happy to confirm my surmise that I was now in the presence of the model and inspiration for his creation. With a little coaxing, the cat obliged by turning towards the camera for a photo. “So what?” it seemed to say.

Nate’s Forge https://www.natesforge.uk/

Old School Thornhill https://www.oldschoolthornhill.com/