Frosty: Thanks. Exactly the comments I need. And have no fear. I have about 60 secs max. to talk about each of three dozen photos typical of late 19th century life here in rural Radnor. I don't want to be completely ignorant of this man's trade; nor am I his apprentice, but I hope to be able to convey a small something evocative of a bygone era which will inform and entertain. I think the question uppermost in an audience's minds may be, "What was he making?" - so my comment will be that pretty much everything these guys made started out as a metal blank. This could have become a handle for a tool, perhaps a small horseshoe, a small part for a carriage, etc. - the idea being that I can give people examples of the potential behind a thin strip of non-specific metal. I deliberatlely speculated out loud above in order to provoke a response that would give me more truth, so thank you for that.
Incidentally, I've found another photograph which "probably" contains the same guy about 20 years later where he looks to be the oldest man on the job just a mile down the road. It shows that he was relatively short among his peers, so your observations about mis-matched working height could be fair. When you worked in a team back in those days I doubt you got to lower the anvil when it was your turn to play. However, it's not something I'm pursuing, so that speculation won't become public.
Your craft is one that definitely appeals to me, but the closest I ever got to working with metal was making leaded light windows as a hobby many years ago, and I'm glad to see that the houses where I installed them now boast the windows (quite wrongly of course) as a period feature. Perhaps one day they'll appear on a forum such as this, where people will be speculating who came up with my one-of-a-kind designs!
Chris Downs had a long and happy life. He came across the ocean as a widower with two daughters to start a new life with the special skills he probably already possessed. I just wish I had the names of some of the characters in our other photos.