Registered Charity Number 1212037Could not resist this poster. Hard to do all the time but hopefully the Shed will provide a framework for supporting some of these. Work continued on Friday of the Platinum Jubilee . . . Two of the new (Howden) worktops were fixed in place on…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Unexpected, so it’s not our usual shower! We began to remove old lighting tubes to fit new LED battens in the Portakabin. Shedders Paul and Dave are just the right size for the job. We decided to rid ourselves of a bulge in the hardboard roof lining…
Registered Charity Number 1212037The point has been made previously that Sheds are built person by person. The nucleus of Shedders grows literally one by one. People are the bricks but their ability to relate to one another is the mortar that binds and makes a Shed resilient and something worth…
Registered Charity Number 1212037One of our “David” Shedders, Dave Tonner, has a number of surprising interests, one of which is throwing axes. Thankfully his interest is deeper than just throwing them, he also enjoys renovating them and other things. Dave has moved into a new house and in the shed…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Will and Kate on Loneliness this Mental Health Week. Mental health concerns exacerbated by loneliness (feeling not connected) affects us all, irrespective of class, at one time or another. Sometimes it can hang around like a personal cloud. We need to reach out to each other with…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Sheds 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…
Registered Charity Number 1212037 1000 Stories is quite a tall order, though with around 500 Sheds registered it amounts to 2 stories per Shed! It’s being orchestrated by Louise Starks, a consultant, on behalf of UK Men’s Sheds Association. If you want to know more about it, just ask graham_storer@btinternet.com….
Registered Charity Number 1212037We wanted to finish off the roof of the Smoker’s “bus stop” at the Sports’ Club. New roofs on houses use “dry verges” to make the left and right verges (edges) of a tiled roof watertight. Was always simply mortared up in the past! Wet verge! “Let’s…
Registered Charity Number 1212037There is an interesting display at Preston Hall of things Viking. It would seem that they were into pole lathes too! This week the grandsons are off school and with us as grandparents. One of the things we started on Bank Holiday Monday was working through the…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Despite what you may think, Men’s Sheds are not the answer to everything. They answer a need for men & women who aspire to be doers (whether or not they already can!) and to meet with others on a regular basis. To be distracted from all kinds…
Registered Charity Number 1212037I mentioned to my Norton son about possibly making a pole lathe with my two grandsons. He produced two books with details in. Graham loves this cover illustration. Look carefully and you will see a pole lathe in the background. Notice the things kids are doing too…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Sheds are fairly green. They often reuse and upcycle. Pallet wood is a strong, good quality wood that can be planed and thicknessed to make some smart looking items. In Norton, The Forge’s Helen Deeham is leading an initiative for a monthly green market using the Friends’…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Phase 1 is the stabilisation of the floors in the kitchen and entrance to the hut, now done, and the installation of new guttering and downpipes for roof rainwater (now delivered for installation). By Easter the guttering should be up and slack in the roof sheets arising…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Any refurbishment project is an activity of discovery. Especially a building possibly 60 years old. The last post reveals good progress on repairing parts of the concrete hut. We can get on with that because these do not require regulatory approval. It should, however, be done properly…
Registered Charity Number 1212037The day started with a 9.15am delivery of water resistant chipboard to be used in the kitchen and entrance passageway where water had taken its toll over the years. Too much washing up! Gary and Graham set to on the floor, removing one half and confirming that…
Registered Charity Number 1212037 The opportunity/challenge made in late December 2024 was for Norton Shedders, their friends and families to register what the Shed, or aspects of it, means to them. It can be using a first name, anonymously as far as the public audience is concerned or even with…
Registered Charity Number 1212037At last we could enter the hut that is to become a Shed and store. Just like moving into a new house including the all important kettle! Forgot the coffee though. Railway Dave, Pat, Paul and Graham explored a little. Then had a cuppa. Finally they set…
Registered Charity Number 1212037NORMENS currently feels that things have risen to a small crescendo! The work of decorating Norton Crocket Club pavilion internally is reaching a conclusion for this year and the smokers’ shelter is nearing completion too. We had a serious clean up on Friday involving Pauline as supervisor…
Registered Charity Number 1212037An interesting play on words with different meanings:-) we’ll explore some different angles. First, literally working in darkness on the Wednesday night shift! Wednesday evening across the transition of dusk the night shift worked from 5.30pm to 9pm on erecting the superstructure of the new smokers’ shelter…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Painting is good, but a change to something else is as good as a rest! The wind blows through a missing glass slat in the away cricket team’s changing room. The plan was to fix that with a Perspex replacement piece and then put Perspex across the…
Registered Charity Number 1212037 Here’s a story from BBC Scotland today (27/2/2022) The GP workers helping people get their life back “He helped me through my problems, helped me to get my benefits sorted out, because I really wasn’t aware of anything at that time,” Steve, 75, says. Life was looking…
Registered Charity Number 1212037But first, here is a before image of the inside of the hut at St. Michael’s. Before removal of “rubbish” in next week and removal of asbestos wall and roof linings the following week. All over by end of Wednesday 16th March (we believe). Next time we…
Registered Charity Number 1212037On Wednesday 23rd we had an evening get together with some of those who have in one way or another helped Norton Men’s Shed to start in quite a unique way! Sheds are invariably a partnership matter if there is to be success. Group of 12 in…
Registered Charity Number 1212037First off, the news is we are in the news. The Stockton & Billingham free newspaper. More news on asbestos removal Removal is scheduled for mid March over 3 days. Before then the hut must be cleared. But before that we will do some “before” photos…
Registered Charity Number 1212037To start with a Matter of the Heart (not left over from Valentine’s Day) Heart Attack Symptoms (particularly early signs) are not what we (Shedders or anybody) always think. They can be subtle. Read on. Symptoms of a heart attack can include: chest pain – a sensation…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Week 3 has seen occasional slips of brushes of white paint onto black surfaces abd vice versa. It all gives us something to do. We start with some tourism to Staithes Shed again where Norton Shedders Pat, Pauline & Paul had their first introduction to wood turning….
Registered Charity Number 1212037On Mondays Normens does not meet. However, this week . . . . . . . . . PaulH did some moonlighting with Graham at Staithes Shed across the border. It allowed Phil to see a developed Shed in proper operation. He felt the atmosphere which is…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Gifted from Preston Park Museum Our thanks to Preston Park Museum for making the offer to Norton Men’s Shed of woodworking machines and dust/chip extraction equipment. ***…
Registered Charity Number 1212037To complement the First Day post of last Friday, here is the first evening report With some Shedders being in full or partial employment during the daytime, there were two options. They depart the Shed on account of being unavailable or we find another way. That could…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Also known as miscellanea. Here’s some random stuff that are only connected by The Shed. Postcards These are being printed by VistaPrint in Holland and may be with us by next weekend. Is this true? Well here’s the proof. …
Registered Charity Number 1212037Ready, Steady, Go. Normens will come to life with a handful of pioneer Shedders on Friday 21st. January. That’s tomorrow. One of the first jobs is to help both ourselves and Norton Sports Charity by decorating parts of the Cricket Pavilion. It is ideal as a first…
Registered Charity Number 1212037We start with a message of greeting and support from Whitby Town Shed. Welcome to the World of Sheds A warm welcome from Whitby Town Shed and congratulations on your new venture. As a new member of the big Shed family and a Shed plant from Whitby…
Registered Charity Number 1212037A postcard for Sheds makes a useful personal handout. Remember Playschool on children’s TV many years ago. This DRAFT postcard has the ring of Playschool about it. Why not, it should be FUN. Below is the other side of the coin errrr postcard The back tells…
Registered Charity Number 1212037We need connections so that we are not isolated. As individuals, and as a Shed. Things happen when there are others involved, not just ourselves. Norton Men’s Shed has only been a “decision” for about 3 months. Now there are about 8 people awaiting the starting gun!…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Surprise find at Norton Library How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life The Norton Shed continues to yield surprises. Graham does not do novels. He tends towards the “factual” and the reference books. Hardly had he started to browse the spines of books…
Registered Charity Number 1212037. . . . When there’s no one there. Starting a Men’s Shed (inclusive of women too) is rarely a straightforward process. What is needed tends not to be delivered on a plate:-] A venue Starter equipment and materials A teapot Some funding to kick things off…
Registered Charity Number 1212037One foot in the grave. With Norton Shed we are trying not to put our foot in it! It’s hard to believe certain things when they happen. Life in a Shed (even when it is just an evolving idea) is often full of surprises and sometimes they…
Registered Charity Number 1212037Here is the building that is intended to be the main base for The Norton Shed. It is a concrete sectional building at St Michael’s and All Angels in Norton South. Here are two views courtesy of Google Earth. We appreciate the willingness of the church to…
Registered Charity Number 1212037The Costa Coffee meeting blossomed the next day. Dave Tonner revealed his recently found hobby of vinyl cutting to embellish items of clothing and crockery. He asked for an electronic copy of the logo design which was forwarded on the internet. That was the last day of…
Registered Charity Number 1212037What could possibly go wrong? It was a meeting, not yet a workshop, and it took place at Norton’s Costa Coffee. Four guys were expected. Graham left his mobile phone at home. That meant he was not contactable by one of the 4 who was waiting outside…
