Getting her hands dirty helping to weld a classic Land Rover literally got mum of three Andrea Hughes on the road to a success.

The talented woman decided to enrol on a welding course in Burslem followed by a blacksmith course in Hereford.

And more than five years' later, the blacksmith has her own forge and anvil at Hall Farm in Alsager and has restored a 1950s sign now on the platform at Sandbach station.

Busy working on one of her latest commissions, an impressive fireside set, the 40 year old can literally turn a piece of mild steel into anything.

For alongside an array of gates, there's commissions from everything including a car ramp for a customer with rally cars to repairs for a cow feeder.

Andrea, whose business is called Andrea's Anvil, is so talented and well-known locally that a Scholar Green farmer even asked her to make a brace for a calf with a broken leg.

"It is one of the more unusual requests but was something I enjoyed doing.

"The farmer was particularly attached to this calf and asked me to help," said Andrea, whose workshop is filled with tools and equipment.

"I used to work from home from the garage so having this workshop is brilliant as I'm not annoying the neighbours anymore," joked Andrea.

Another customer recently asked Andrea to weld and fix an old sledge which the man wanted to hand down to his grandchildren.

"It does sometimes feel a bit like the Repair Shop here. I am preserving the old but I make a lot of new things as well," said Andrea.

Andrea's mild steel crafted snails, which sit in the soil or plant pots literally "fly out of the door", as do her tall steel allium garden designs.

No piece of steel goes to waste and is she is commissioned to make one object she usually makes another at the same time to sell.

Many of her designs are one-offs and many are seasonal such as the carefully turned mini steel Christmas trees.

Andrea's work can be seen for sale in Hall Farm Shop where her business is based but she also supplies the Two Doors Studio in Alsager.

The old craft of blacksmiths was dying in the 1980s but says Andrea has made a big resurgence.

Andrea knows of two other blacksmiths in the area – one at Mow Cop and another at Etruria in Stoke-on-Trent.

But it was Andrea's skills which were called on when the Friends of Sandbach Station were looking for someone to restore a 1950s sign.

The sign frame and design, which is now standing on Platform 2 at the station, was constructed by Andrea.

Sandbach Nub News and its sister site, Alsager Nub News reported how Andrea had watched the unveiling of the sign clickhere.

"The outside was quite corroded so had to be sandwiched between two metal frames," she said.

She added: "It's such a lovely sign and I am really pleased with how it has turned out."

Andrea's work can be seen on her website www.andreasanvil.co.uk and on her Facebook page under Andrea's Anvil.