Sheds are not a manufactured product that can be picked off the shelf like a car. They are more like a Lego kit of parts that are capable of being assembled in different ways for a common purpose – creative enjoyment!
Today one of the original founding Shedders in Whitby area 6 years ago called excitedly. Bob moved away and has been without a Shed to attend for a good while; somewhere he could do stick making which has been his long term (paying) hobby. Two days ago he discovered some postcards about local activities and one was promoting a Men’s Shed in Ryburn. Bob called the number on the card and visited the new Shed today for a couple of hours. Amazingly they were hoping a stick maker might join!
Bob came across so excited by his visit. What he kept stressing was that this new Shed to him had the same atmosphere and ethos as the Sheds he knew in Whitby. He’d found a familiar home where he intends to settle in and contribute to Shed life (he knows that will benefit his life too!)
Norton Shed is unusual in that it started with no Shed venue. Two future possibilities but no place. The Shed has been just a handful of people.
We now have a place at Norton Sports Charity that we can begin to move into. It is a Portacabin that has possibly been in place for 35 years and it would have been second hand then. There is a challenge to upgrade the outside and undertake some repairs, but it is weathertight.
We started work a few days ago and today we worked to strip the flaking coating on the outside and to clear rubbish from one of the rooms . It felt like progress and a bit of fun too.
Overall it is 15m x 4.25m. We’ll be using textured masonry paint – black. Internally it is the right hand end (the so called switch room) that we started to clear.
This is the switch room (for the football pitch floodlights) which was cleared.
We had a new man work at the Shed today, Derrick. He was distracted by Dave and turned away from the camera!
Really good news today. Norton Men’s Shed received a donation of £250 from the purse of Stockton’s Mayor Cllr. Kevin Faulks.
It came on the day when we committed expenditure of £122 on decorating materials for the Portacabin and £150 for Ryobi cordless tools. That can be substantially covered by the Mayor’s gift.
Support that the Shed gets from wider local community sources is greatly appreciated. It is great encouragement that we are doing something for ourselves but also on behalf of the community.
Here is the Ryobi kit just delivered by DPD!
Helen posed a difficult question but after careful consideration for two seconds Graham said YES.
Given the “Not off the shelf” title of this posting, it is amazing to have just received the offer of some rather smart shelving from Helen Deehan (closing Forge shop but opening a market!)
“Any good?”, she emailed with this photograph. What do you think Graham replied?
Wednesday evening Graham went scraping the Portacabin again in lovely evening sunshine.
See the progress he made by comparing the two photos of the front of the Portacabin – more lighter patches revealing the plywood lining.
Looking forward to painting it with textured masonry paint. For now we just keep at the chore!
The rear of the cabin. Note the corrugated steel sheeting which covers a door. That will be opened up to provide a wheelchair ramp.