The vision of four North Otago farmers in the 1970s paid off earlier this year when the historic Nicol's Blacksmith Shop in Duntroon received national recognition from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Sally Rae visits the "smithy" which is now considered a place of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value.
Burns Pollock can still hear the ringing of the anvil at the smithy in Duntroon.
As a schoolboy - not entirely concentrating on matters in the classroom at Duntroon School- it left the "most indelible impression" on him.
"It was a beautiful noise," Mr Pollock (72) recalls.
The anvil rang as Nicol Muirden, the last Duntroon village blacksmith, worked at the forge. Originally from the Orkney Islands, he took over the business in 1930 and operated it until he retired in the mid-1960s.
The young Burns and his friends knew him as "Mr Muirden" and they spent happy times at the smithy, pumping the bellows for him.
Mr Pollock can still vividly recall him standing in the smithy, drinking from an enamel pannikin - which is still on the wall - which he filled with water from the nearby brewery hole.
"He was of huge mana in the district . . . one of those lovely, quiet guys. Just a super guy," Mr Pollock said.
It was that respect for Mr Muirden that, years later, helped propel a project to save the smithy from demolition.
When Mr Pollock and fellow local farmers John Hore, Bill Simpson and the late Jim Harvey, stepped in and bought the smithy, with chattels intact, in 1975, it was "a tangible thing to Nicol, as much as the smithy".
The old building had faced the threat of demolition as part of a Ministry of Works power scheme investigation.
The four long-time friends decided they wanted to preserve an important part of their history and the history of the village. They named it Nicol's Blacksmith Shop, in recognition of their old friend.
A crowd estimated at nearly 1000 gathered in the village in 1984 for the official reopening of the smithy, with the honour bestowed on Nicol Muirden's daughters, whose turn it was to ring the anvil.
The business was founded in the 1890s, catering to the needs of horses and horse-drawn vehicles, as well as making tools and equipment for farmers.
It later included a carriage building and paint workshop, and expanded in the 1920s when a garage was joined to the smithy to cater for the growing motor trade.
One of Mr Muirden's employees, Arthur Smith, employed in 1932, visited Duntroon in 1995 and commented that his workbench was still there and the interior of the smithy was much the same as it had been during his time.
Mr Muirden sold to Tom Gibson, an engineer-mechanic, who operated a small engineering workshop until 1974.
Today, the building is very much in its original condition - timber-framed and clad, and unlined and maintained enough over the years to keep it secure.
The interior of the working areas are full of the original equipment, including the forge, bellows, wheel pit and jig.
It is a treasure-trove of items and artefacts, the purpose and origins of much of it lost on today's young generation.
It has also become a "repository for gear" with people giving all sorts of equipment, not necessarily connected with the smithy. There is even an antique sausage-making machine within its depths.
Situated next to The Flying Pig Cafe on the main street of Duntroon - State Highway 83 - it is the only village blacksmith registered with the Historic Places Trust in New Zealand.
Research Mr Hore has done showed there were also smithies at Island Cliff, Livingstone, Tokarahi, Ngapara, Kurow, Enfield, Otiake, Hakataramea, Georgetown and Pukeuri.
Now the smithy has been given a category one classification, the next step for the Nicol's Blacksmith Historic Trust is to get an engineer's report to outline what needs to be done to conserve the building.
"We don't want to take it back to brand new . . . we want to conserve what's there, stop it falling down, make it safe for our visitors," Mr Pollock said.
The smithy has been a popular attraction, opening for bus tours and school groups. "Half the motivation of doing it is to keep this heritage tangible for the next generation," he said.
Realising that support was crucial to embarking on a conservation project, the owners surveyed locals and all who responded were positive about the project, Mr Hore said.
More than 30 years on from saving the smithy, Mr Hore, Mr Pollock and Mr Simpson are still as enthusiastic as ever, and have no regrets about their purchase.
They still have a dream to have a working blacksmith on site. They would also welcome any photographs, anecdotes and memories to record for future generations.
They have been joined by Mike Gray, another person passionate about the Duntroon area, and, most recently, Jan Keeling (nee Rutherford) who is a fourth-generation farmer in the area.
While "still at the very beginning of being on board", Mrs Keeling was enjoying her involvement and "learning so much".
Mr Gray and his wife, Lyn, were responsible for Wally - the hard-case looking old chap who is wheeled outside the smithy and whom red-faced visitors have admitted asking for information.
Mr Hore recalled how Bill Simpson was asked in the pub one night, shortly after the acquisition of the smithy, why he helped buy it. He responded by saying that one day, it would be the most important building in Duntroon.
"It hasn't quite made it yet. But maybe it might be in the next five to 10 years. Five years, I hope", Mr Hore said.
