My grandfather and great grandfather were both blacksmiths in Co Tyrone in Ireland. The forge or smithy was an adjunct to the dwelling house - I can just about remember the intense heat, smoke and blackness of the interior as well as the soot and the bellows. It was a very basic plain building. There were always horseshoes nailed to the door- like a letter 'U'. Lots of folk kept a similar horseshoe nailed somewhere for luck. The superstition was that kept this way up, your luck couldn't fall out. I have seen pictures of blacksmiths' shops in parts of England where the horseshoes are nailed up with the open end pointing downwards. The superstition here is that this is done so the devil can't build a nest in the horseshoe. One of the most impressive smithies I've seen had the chimneys on the gable wall built in a horseshoe shape - open end downwards. I'd be interested to know if other countries had similar beliefs. Rachel Dysart