I got started in Blacksmithing in 2018 when I was fed up with working for large retail companies, it is something that has always interested me so I decided to go on a course to see if it was something I was any good at. I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with the heat, the fire, the metal, the physical hammering all day to achieve your end product.
From there I set up my first coke forge and make shift anvil in my garden and practiced....a lot. Not long after I set up the workshop that i'm still in to this day, it's not very big and really needs to bigger, but it's fantastic and I love it.....really love it.

I have a Becma single burner gas forge (the coke forge was a bit smoky for where I live) a great Anvil I picked up from a friend of mine for the cost of a 40pack of beer! Which I appreciated massively because anvils that size are expensive. I had stations set up for casting, jewellery work, welding, metal work and wood work, all in a 10ft by 10ft square workshop, a tight squeeze but it was a wonderful start to the craft.

We really wanted to spread the love we have for norse history and Viking jewellery and mythology, we first opened the website allthingsheathen.com in july 2018 and it started slow but steady, it took us a while to realize what it was we wanted to sell, and after some messing around with dropshipping products through the website we decided enough was enough, no more. So after a long discussion My Wife and I decided that we should combine my Blacksmithing and craft work with the website, so now allthingsheathen.com was selling custom norse pagan clothing designed by us and handmade jewellery made by me

Everything I make is made with as many recycled or found materials as I can. I love creating things this way and I take great pride in the items that I have on the store, a lot of care and energy goes into each piece to ensure each one is an item you will love to own.

Now we have sold up our house and moved up North to the Orkney Islands with our two Wee girls, Lyra and Saoirse. I also got a a bigger stone built workshop which is incredible to work in.
We are planning to be as self sufficient as we can and live a sustainable lifestyle, producing our own energy, raising our own animals and growing our own veg, fruit, nuts, herbs etc.

I changed the name from all things heathen to A Farm In The North in 2022, I decided it was time to incorporate more of my farm life in to the brand I am trying to build.

Here at A Farm In The North we live at 59 degrees north in the majestic and awe inspiring Orkney archipelago. I am building a small permaculture homestead here on our 5 acres and currently have a small flock of the rare Orkney Boreray sheep and a mix of smaller animals to feed the family and the land. We have planted a 50 tree orchard and a 1 acre woodland filled with native and wind resistant species. Wind can be brutal here, so a lot of the first few years here will be about establishing wind breaks to keep our other areas of the farm safe.

The workshop side of things is a huge passion of mine, I love to craft, in all forms, I aim to learn as many skills as I can before my time and teach others what I have learned along the way. I currently work with all metals, bone, leather, Orkney Boreray horns and hides, stone and I am hoping to move on to clay work and glass work soon enough, I LOVE to craft. Especially items of Norse culture and history, my ancestors were from the North and I feel called to create authentic Viking period pieces of jewellery and tools. All my items are hand made and mostly hand made with hand tools (hand tools are another passion of mine) you wont find any chinese made anything on my site, it's all hand made from raw materials here in Orkney.

Growing food and regenerative agriculture is also a big passion of mine, I grow as much food as I can for my family and aim to be self sufficient for food within 5 years. At the same time I intend to build a small market garden NPO where I grow a lot more food than I need and give away all the extra food to any one on our island who needs it.

The weather here during Winter is challenging and brings many difficulties along with it, but the skies are so incredible, the wind is breathtaking and invigorating, the night sky and northern lights are magical and fill me with absolute wonder, the sunrises and sets are so full of colour.

The summers are warm and welcoming, with white sandy beaches, clear, turquoise seas that sit still in the bays like a lake between islands, the fauna here and flora is beautiful and diverse, with whales and puffins to butterflies, moths, seals with their pups, rare plants, gorgeous wild flowers and many mushrooms for those with the eye to hunt them.

All this is set within the rolling landscape of the Orkney archipelago, we are surrounded by views of our neighboring islands and breathtaking seas that crash against shear cliffs filled with stacks and caves, the many beaches are wonderfully framed within their bountiful bays where boats filled with fisherman go to work to supply Orkney with fresh local fish.

This is a wonderful place to be and I am blessed to be among it.

Anyway enough about us, thankyou for reading and taking an interest in our life and thankyou for supporting us! Your awesome! :)