Our Team

Richard Pace served as a Royal Engineer for twelve years. After leaving the army and working in engineering around the world, he discovered his love of blacksmithing whilst volunteering at Stepney City Farm. He has been teaching blacksmithing for over a decade and has specialist knowledge of heritage restoration. Some of his work can seen at historic sites across London. Away from the forge Richard is a keen bowler and recently restored the score boards for his bowling club. 

 

Lizzie Hughes studied sculpture at The Slade School of Fine Art. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries including Kettle’s Yard, The Whitechapel Gallery and Camden Arts Centre. She learnt to forge at a community college in East London and met the founders of UCF when she attended lessons at their previous forge at Stepney City Farm. Lizzie has an interest in coppersmithing and in 2020 was awarded an Endangered Crafts Bursary from The Heritage Crafts Association. Outside of the forge she enjoys visiting galleries and making her own clothes.

 

Tim Griffiths is the youngest member of UCF. He has a long history of working on site at Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Education as well as in aeronautical engineering. When UCF appeared at Lambourne End it piqued Tim’s interest and he soon became an enthusiastic volunteer. Subsequently he spent a short time studying Blacksmithing at The Rural Crafts Centre at Hereford and Ludlow College. He has a particular fascination for metallurgy and doesn’t just know what to do with a hammer he can also tell you about it on a molecular level!  

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Ian Stuart Lowe 1975 - 2020

Ian was a founding member of UCF and we were devastated to lose him in June 2020. Ian was a proud Yorkshire man who learnt his trade as a blacksmith by taking a self-led journeyman’s tour across Europe, America and Australia, to meet and learn from other like-minded craftspeople. His stories of his travels were as entertaining as they were endless. In 2015 with a group of friends he founded the Urban Crafts Foundation. Despite his failing health he continued forging to the end and just prior to his untimely death he completed a signage commission incorporating work produced during classes with young people, many of whom had learning disabilities. Ian was talented, stubborn, entertaining and a maverick. He is sadly missed but the Urban Crafts Foundation will strive to keep his memory alive.   

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