Shed of the Year

Shed of the Year: boat-roofed creation sails to victory – annual competition in the UK got almost 2000 entrants this year.  See some of the others at Shed of the Year 2013 entrants.

Why sheds?   From Shed of the year contest trumpets UK’s love of garden hideaways:

Novelist Philip Pullman, poet Dylan Thomas, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters are among those indebted to these humble, cobwebbed sanctuaries for producing some of their works. Arthur Miller specifically constructed one in his Connecticut garden just to write Death of a Salesman, his most famous play.

For others however, the shed is a work of art in itself …

The idea for a competition grew from Andrew Wilcox‘s appreciation of sheds and the old guys who gardened near his grandfather’s allotment in Wales and used whatever reclaimed material they could find to build them.

They were the first eco recyclers before it was in fashion, it was amazing when I was a kid,” says Andrew.

The first Shed of the Year competition was in 2007, after the website for ‘sheddies’ Wilcox had created took off.  These days both the website and competition are sponsored by Cuprinol, makers of garden equipment.  You can see Wilcox’s shed of the month picks here.

If you’re really into sheds, check out the blog at Shedworking or enter the 2014 Shed of the Year contest, entries open next month.

Once again, my thanks to Webmeister Gene!