Blacksmiths - what was life like?

I am in the process of adding some reminiscences my mother ( b 1914) wrote in her 80th year to my family tree and I came across a recollection she had of visiting the smithy at Penshurst in Kent around 1923. She recalled the name of the blacksmith, who was a friend of her father, and I looked up the 1911 census to verify it. When I found a postcard of the smithy on line and looked closely at the image there was the name of the family written over the door.