Shed Shout Out! - March 2025

Keeping busy, hot drinks and good company seem to have seen us through another winter and maybe being signed-up to the Warm Welcome scheme has helped too? We don’t keep records but we do know that having a warm and welcoming social space is every bit as important to Shedding as a well-equipped workshop. Some timely Spring cleaning has provided a warming workout in our unheated workshop space too. Although knocking pallets apart for the timber brings all sorts of benefits, many are constructed in such an unforgiving way that wastage is inevitable. The temptation to keep split and nail-infested pieces ‘in case they come in handy’ means that a timber stack soon becomes a sprawling heap. Time to get ruthless!

In a first for us, we were fascinated to have an elderly radio (or is that wireless?) in for restoration. It is just a cabinet (the electronics have long gone) which is probably just as well. It would have felt disrespectful to hear it playing tunes that were not suitably ‘in-period’! Like many voluntary groups, keeping in touch with our membership highlights the ‘digital divide’ and it’s not just about who uses a smart phone. ‘Hard-copy’ remains the only way to reach many of our members and, to a large extent, we have our parish magazines to thank for filling the gap and being far more than the church newsletter they set out to be. I know all our Shedders are grateful for giving us a
bit space every month - thank you.

Getting stuck into something practical, constructive and creative helps keep us grounded and supports our mental well-being - and that’s probably a big part of why Shedders turn up on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I doubt many would admit that – most likely they will say something about cake and biscuits!