Britain's obsession with luxury playhouses

An interesting article by Tom Bawden in the Independent [disclosure - I work for the super soaraway Indy] looks at the increasingly complex playhouses on the market for children. Here's a snippet:

Not so long ago, the average child was perfectly happy with a playhouse made from cheap scrap wood, cardboard or even a bed sheet draped over a line between two poles. Wonky wendy houses wobbled across the land. Nowadays that won’t do at all, with youngsters around the country living it up in des-res two-storey garden mansions with a balcony, double-glazing, window box, electronic doorbell and, in some cases, even a pretend oven.

Well worth a read. ----------------------------------------------------------

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British Pathé and George Bernard Shaw's shed

Film archive British Pathé has put its entire collection onto YouTube. Naturally, among the 85,000 rare 20th Century videos now available to the public are plenty including sheds and huts, such as this one featureing George Bernard Shaw and his writing shed, which he enters at around the 1.38 mark. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Sheds more popular for working in than storage says poll

Research from Dunster House suggests that keeping sheds as storage areas is no longer the most popular way of using them  - more than half of the people surveyed said they use their shed as a dedicated hobby space or relaxing hideaway.

Second most popular was using the shed for storage which 43% of respondents did, with a remaining 4% favouring sheds for their aesthetics i.e. the perfect addition to an attractive back garden.

“We all know that sheds have a practical use," said Alex Murphy, Managing Director at Dunster House, "but we hadn’t realised so many people were using them as a bolt hole from the stresses and strain of their everyday lives, either to grab a bit of peace and quiet, or to relax and enjoy their favourite hobbies.

“With people still financially stretched and looking for less costly ways of spending their free time, staying at home and ‘pottering’ about in your own shed seems to be a growing trend, as well as a healthy way of unwinding and keeping active at the same time. I’m never happier than when I’m in my own ‘Man-cave’ in the back garden.” ----------------------------------------------------

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Launch your business in an escape shed

Here's an interesting idea from the Escape the City folk - one lucky person will get three months' free use of a shedworking atmosphere near Clapham Common to set up their new business. It's a liveable shedworking atmosphere so there's also a tiny house log cabin element in it too. There's no rent and there's a host of other helpful stuff like mentoring services thrown in too. More details about how to apply at the link above. Thanks to the eagle-eyed Emma Jones for spotting this. Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Shedworking support worker job

Age UK Cheshire is looking for a part time 'Men in Sheds Support Worker', somebody who is sensitive, friendly and patient with good listening and communication skills, plus a willingness to learn woodwork techniques (or, I'm assuming, have them already). Here's the detail:

"Men in Sheds is a project started by Age UK Cheshire in the autumn of 2008 for older men who feel isolated or are experiencing major life changes. The project is very simple and has one goal, to reach men over 55. We aim to encourage a shed-like environment with a focus on socialising, sharing skills and learning new ones and of course, all of our activities are accompanied with lots of tea and biscuits! We are looking for volunteers to support men who may have extra support needs in various woodwork projects."

Click here for full information and how to apply ----------------------------------------------------------

Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

Henry 'Tarka the Otter' Williamson's writing shed up for sale

The writing hut built by author Henry Williamson is to be auctioned next month. Williamson paid for its construction in 1929 (pictured below that year) with prize money from winning the Hawthornden Prize for literature. It is built in oak and elm with slate roof tiles and near the pretty village of Georgeham near Woolacombe in North Devon.

The Henry Williamson Trust has run and maintained it since the author’s death in 1977 and it has been regularly used for lectures and readings. A statement from the Trust says:

"It is with the greatest reluctance that the Williamson family has announced that Henry Williamson's Writing Hut, together with the studio close by and an acre of land, are to be put up for auction on 23 May [by Webbers]. It is to be hoped that the buyer will be sympathetic to the hut and its environs, given its great literary significance. For HW it was a place of sanctuary, and many of his works were written there, including books in the Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series. It has become, for Williamson readers, a place of pilgrimage, with visitors from as far away as the United States and Australia."

Pictured above is Williamson inside the hut. The sale includes his writing desk, spectacles and blotter. Pictured below is how it looks today.

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Homestead Timber Buildings - Manufacturers of Quality Timber Buildings

Win a shed

Beast Sheds have a nice competition for UK bloggers on their site (details here) to win one of their 5×4 Pent B model sheds worth £499, delivered and fitted free of charge. All you need to do is write a blog post about how to use a shed creatively and they can include photos or video. Maybe you'd like to become a shedworker for example... Closing date is April 30.
  
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Wednesday posts are sponsored by The Stable Company®, the UK's premier supplier of garden offices and garden rooms. Click here

Is this the most shedworkingesque road sign in the world?

Eagle-eyed Shedworking reader Dan Norcev sent this in to us this morning, spotted in the middle of Paris. Does anybody else know of a more shedlike collection of shedbased streets and roads? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Shed’onomics: Shed of the Year report

Nice infographic thingy. See the full story in The Independent. Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.