Arron Banks and the garden office/writing room debate

Those of you not on Twitter may have missed the current garden office/writing room debate kicked off by Brexit campaigner Arron Banks (although now he's kind of changed his tune) who criticised JK Rowling for having a writing room. As everything always does on Twitter, it's all kicking off and as you will not be surprised to learn, entirely against Mr Banks's position. Here are a few comments (warning, there is some poor language in the following tweets):

I have a writing room. It comes complete with writing dog. If you think that's pretentious, I'm afraid that's on you. pic.twitter.com/O47nkYqzDp

— James Oswald (@SirBenfro) December 1, 2018

I've a writing shed (& office/library), was a shed, took out end to remove carpenters bench (any offers?) replaced with reused double glazing, then insulated, added vinyl floor, shelves, plus a stove, and all by myself, why, because this writer needs more than a pen. Pretentious! pic.twitter.com/2sLhkgcfqG

— Bob Flowerdew (@FlowerdewBob) December 3, 2018

Like J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman, I have a writing room. Actually, it's a one-room studio. There's even a couch. And if you think that's pretentious, go fuck yourself.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 1, 2018

I've had a "writer's room" since 1985, and the first house we were renting, when I was still a journalist. It's the room you do the work in. The idea that you don't get a room to work in is the same as the idea that writing isn't work. https://t.co/4e7EBnLj0Y

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 1, 2018

My current writing room: it's a cabin in the woods. Most days I look up from writing to see deer, chipmunks or even bears wandering, scurrying, or lumbering past. It's a good place to work, because if you are a writer people don't always leave you alone to write. pic.twitter.com/FuNNQu6RW2

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 1, 2018

there's this flash butcher I know with a SHOP

— Dom Joly (@domjoly) November 30, 2018

You can catch up on the whole sorry spectacle on Twitter here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Noel Edmonds: shedworker

Noel Edmonds, most recently seen on our screens in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, is also something of a shedworker, basking in his lovely build from Arctic Cabins - there's a nice shot of it, top, and you can just see it peeping out in the image below too. MSN has more shots of the interior and exterior of his home if you're really keen. -------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Beach hut advent calendar opens its doors

Maybe for the last time, the Beyond Church beach hut advent calendar in Brighton and Hove opened its first doors this weekend. Here's Hut 17 owned by Sarah Sutherland-Rowe (more images of it here) created in collaboration with children from All Saints Hove - it featured an angel with wings made from the children's handprints, and a modern day dress Mary and Joseph. If you can make it to the daily openings for the rest of Advent, the organisers would be delighted to see you and offer you a warming drink and a mince pie. You can also follow @RevMartinPoole for pictures.
------------------------------------

Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style

£300,000 price tag for remote beach hut

Beach hut silly season continues as people plan ahead for next summer with the latest hut at Mudeford Spit, Christchurch, hut 180 on with Denisons for £300,000 (plus annual rates to the local counsil of £500 and a licence fee of £2,500). According to the particulars it is "a beautifully presented LARGER THAN AVERAGE hut having the benefit of front and rear UNINTERRUPTED VIEWS."

The hut is 16ft x 12ft with direct access to the beach and was renovated 15 years ago, though there is still no water, electrics, nor lavatory. It does have a kitchen though "luxuriously fitted out with a range of units incorporating limed wood cladding to the walls and ceiling". At a push, the hut sleeps eight and unlike some beach huts, it's legal to sleep here for up to seven months in a calendar year.

One of the advantages of the hut is its isolation (except it is of course a public beach). As the Daily Mail says: "The 350 beach huts on the sandspit are so remote they require a 30 minute walk or a ride on a novelty land train to get to them."

-------------------------------------------------------

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

Former Victorian railway station waiting room garden office for sale

Here's a remarkable shedworking opportunity. The owners of the former 1860s railway station buildings in Coalport, Telford (very close to where the Shedworking staff were born as well as the famous Ironbridge) is up for sale. In recent years, the whole property has been renovated and two mark 1 Great Western Railway carriages restored run as holiday lets - I stayed in one of them five years ago and it was a marvellous experience (the owls outside in the 2.5 acres of grounds were a bit noisy though).

Best of all though, the former brick-built waiting room - pictured top - has been turned into an open plan garden office measuring 6m x 3m.

The whole thing - including the five-bedroom house - is on the market with Strutt & Parker for £950,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

David Cameron's shepherd's hut in Private Eye

Find out what happens next in the latest issue of Private Eye, out now.

------------------------------------------

Wednesday posts are sponsored by Eurodita, the leader in serving smart dealers

Garden offices, broadband, and living in the country: new report

Millions of city dwellers are being put off relocating to the countryside by concerns over bad broadband and mobile phone reception, while large portions of those already living in rural areas experience these issues to such an extent they regret moving there, according to a new report from uSwitch.com.

This is obviously not great news for shedworkers and those planning to work from garden offices in rural locations and comes despite Ofcom reporting that almost all of the country should be able to access superfast connections. Its research claims that more than 13 million city dwellers would like to live in the countryside in the future - but for the 15 million who wouldn’t, more than half are put off by the thought of poor broadband connections and patchy phone signal.

Although Ofcom claims that 93% of the country can already access superfast broadband services, four in 10 of rural residents suffer from a slow or unreliable connection. And when it comes to using a mobile at home, a third say that their calls regularly cut out, while a quarter say they can’t make any at all. In total, more than one million people - roughly a tenth of all those currently living in the countryside - say they would never have moved there had they known how poor rural connectivity is.

Ernest Doku, broadband and mobiles expert at uSwitch.com, said: “It’s ludicrous that in 2018 broadband and mobile phone signal is a factor influencing where in the UK people choose to live. In recent years there have been massive strides made in the rollout of superfast services and mobile reception provision, so it’s hard to imagine why so many people continue to struggle along on a service that doesn’t meet their needs.

"The only explanation is that providers have been guilty of a ‘build it and they will come’ mentality - simply assuming that their work is done as soon as they have provided the infrastructure for faster services and not doing enough to make sure that their customers are aware that better services are available."

uSwitch encourages consumers to check the broadband speed of any potential property before deciding where to move, which can be done here.

Image courtesy  Cabin Habit  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning