Sadly no longer in production, it's still nice to remember for this week's Finery the intriguingly curved Elegant Garden Room from Harrod Horticultural with floor-to-ceiling windows.
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Woodlands Home & Garden Group’s consumer retail brand Tiger has launched its 20th UK show site at Dobbies Garden Centre in Andover.
The new site continues Tiger’s franchise expansion which has more than doubled its retail footprint in 2025.
Sam Jenkinson, Head of Marketing at Tiger said: "Reaching 20 sites is an important milestone for us, and Andover is the perfect location. The relationship with a number of garden centre chains gives us high-footfall retail environments, and the franchise model continues to deliver strong results, with several partners already taking on additional sites, and also, as in this case, helping to bring other franchisee operators to us.”
The new show site is open 9am-5pm on Monday to Saturday and 10.30am-4.30pm on Sunday.
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The BBC Radio 4 series Café Hope in which presenter Rachel Burden talks to folk who are doing their bit to make things better features Neil Baker from the Men's Shed in Camberly in its latest episode. He tells Rachel how their community workshops reduce loneliness, and encourage men to make new friends while completing building projects. Listen to it at the link above (it's only 15 minutes long so ideal for a coffee break moment).
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The latest design from Plankbridge following their dog wash hut, laundry room, and garden privy models is its Tack Room measuring a bijou 2m x 2m. Features include full-size saddle racks and bench storage seating as well as familiar favourites such as tongue-and-groove panelling, cast-iron electric radiator, 70mm Thermafleece sheep’s wool insulation, and of course corrugated tin exterior in your chosen colour.
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A tremendous build for this week's Finery from The Little Thatched Co which incorporates said thatched roof, originally designed as a mobile 'show building' but which unsurprisingly struck a chord. Measures 2.9m x 1.6m x 2m.
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A nice video for BBC Newsround (sans John Craven, sadly) in which Cressida Cowell guides us around the spot in which she wrote the How to Train Your Dragon series.
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Here is the Rubicon Garden Rooms office and rehearsal studio for Radiohead tribute band, Just Radiohead (pictured with Rubicon's Managing Director John Lyon)
It's a bespoke, sound-proofed music studio, with insulated glass installed in the back garden of band member Shaun on the Wirral who also uses it as a home office for his day job running a motivational speaker and leadership management training company. Rather than convert a large garage, they went down the shedworking route.
“Having the studio has made a huge difference to the band," said Shaun, "because it can be quite expensive to hire a rehearsal space, so we’re saving a lot of money doing that. It also means we don’t have to move our equipment so much."
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Woodlands Home & Garden Group’s brand Tiger has launched its third Scottish franchise show site. The new site at Dobbies Garden Centre, Ayr, is part of Tiger’s franchise-driven expansion strategy and, as elsewhere, showcases the brand’s sheds, summerhouses, workshops and log cabins.
“We were keen to bring Tiger to Ayr because it’s a brand with a proven reputation and a strong following," said franchisee Andrew Mathieson. With Tiger’s manufacturing expertise and the support behind the franchise model we’re confident this new site will be a real success.”
Sam Jenkinson, Head of Marketing at Tiger, added: “Scotland has been a strong growth market for us, and this third show site at Ayr represents another important step forward in reaching Scottish consumers. This first site in the Dobbies network provides us with prime retail environments to showcase our buildings, and Andrew and his team are well placed to deliver excellent customer service and sales performance.”
The Ayr launch, the 10th this year, means Tiger’s national footprint includes 19 sites, with more openings planned before 2026.
The new Tiger Show Site at Ayr is now open at Dobbies Garden Centre, Holmston Road, Old Toll, Ayr, KA6 5JJ, Monday-Friday 9.30am-4.30pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-3pm.
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This rather lovely curved interior of a Skipjack Pod from Hully, which also comes with optional glass-fronted façade, is this week's week-ending Finery.
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One for the shedworker's bookshelf, Cabin by Patrick Hutchison is out next month from HarperCollins and has a bit of a Henry David Thoreau but with larger dollop of humour. It’s about outdoor living, renovation and DIY, the beauty of living and working in nature and the outdoors as well as Mr Hutchison's love for cabins.
Here's what the publishers say:
Working unhappily as a copywriter in the Pacific Northwest, scouring social media for ‘cabin porn’ in his spare time, Patrick came across an advert for a tiny, dilapidated cabin nestled deep in the forests of the Cascade Mountains. Scraping together his last few dollars, he bought the place for $7,500 and set about making it his own. Cabin is a beautifully written account of restoring a rural home with almost no woodworking experience, aided only by the kindness of friends, a collection of vicious power tools and countless cases of beer.
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Large congratulations to the fine folk at Cosy Garden Rooms who have been shortlisted for Micro Business of the Year at the East Midlands Chamber Business Awards 2025/26.
"As
a small team, there is seven of us, we focus on designing and building the
best garden rooms possible," said a spokesperson. "We are genuinely happy to be recognised for
the Micro Business of the Year award, which looks at our growth and
impact. We are pleased to be representing the small business community in the East Midlands."
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The Shackleton Experience in Athy, Kildare, has reopened to the public following a €7.5 million redevelopment with the actual cabin in which polar explorer Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack on the ship ‘Quest’ during the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition in 1922 taking pride of place.
The attraction combines the largest collection of Shackleton artefacts in the world with interactive exhibits. The cabin had been used for many years as a garden shed in Norway, after the cabin was removed and the ship adapted for whaling. After it was donated to the museum, it was painstakingly restored by historical conservator Sven Habermann, based in Connemara.
While the cabin itself is relatively untouched thanks to the cold conditions in which it was kept, the interior has obviously required more work and has been refurnished to a state as close as possible to its existence under Shackleton's command, with sections of the bed and drawers remaining as original features.
More details and photos at the Irish Examiner.
Photo courtesy Kildare County Council
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A tremendous build from Byró Architekti a garden pavilion near the Vltava River which can be used as accommodation but also has a splending moveable outer wall and charred cladding. It is entirely off-grid, with solar panels on the roof. Lots of splendid photos of it at the link above.
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Further proof that shedworking is a flexible option comes in the form of Smart Modular Building's recent case study of a dog grooming business based in one of its 2m x3m Key Studio models. Features include a double door, medium oak laminate, and LED downlights, with space fo a professional grooming table and drying equipment, stainless steel dog bath, and easy-to-sanitise surfaces, plus separate client access from the garden. According to the owner:“It made it possible to run my business the way I always wanted, separate from my house, perfectly equipped, and totally professional. It’s given me space to grow, without the huge cost of renting. I couldn’t be happier.”
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A new title for your shedworker's bookshelf, out later this month, Modern Tree Houses fom Tashchen, with words by Florian Siebeck, illustrations by Marie-Laure Cruschi, and plentiful illustrations about all sorts of tree houses. Here's the bumph from the publisher:
A forestful of lofty lodges beckons nature lovers and design enthusiasts alike. From children’s playhouses and luxury escapes to eco-friendly homes and urban hideouts, these elevated masterpieces—crafted by architects like Baumraum, Manuela Hardy, BIG, and Snøhetta—reimagine how nature and buildings can coexist harmoniously.The book features 62 pretty elaborate examples of what it calls 'nature's penthouses' from around the world.
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The Shedworking staff were much taken by this view from an Ecospace Studios build in Cornwall.
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Recent happy Cosy Garden Rooms customer Zac Clayton from Nottingham talks in the video below about adding a large cedar-clad garden room to his home and why he thinks it's better than an extension.
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The 14ft Plankbridge Bothy that was one of the main attractions at the Chelsea Flower Show and then spent time at RHS Garden Wisley is now on the market (guide price £32,000 including VAT with delivery extra). Features include an oak stable door, bespoke writing desk, aubergine coloured sides, cast iron electric radiator, waxed internal sweet chestnut walls, an English ash floor, and sweet chestnut windows.
The desk is of particular interest. Mad of ash, it features engravings from gardening royalty Gertrude Jekyll’s notebooks in the RHS Lindley Library.
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