Olne

In Olne, as in many Walloon villages, iron was extracted and processed. Small groups of workers went to the ore sites until the Late Middle Ages. Since water is used to cool and harden iron, they preferred to settle near flowing water.
Remnants of this steel industry can be found almost everywhere in the valleys. Well-known are the nail makers or nail smiths from Olne, who often worked at home in a very primitive forge with a bellows. The nail maker obtained finished rods from the foundries and then separated them into equal parts with a hammer. A head and a point were needed to complete the product.

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