HUTS have always had a certain fascination for Judi Hill. She has a hut in the garden of her home in Alnmouth in Northumberland, and a beach hut at nearby Boulmer.

Yesterday, Judi unveiled the latest hut in her collection – and which can claim to be the smallest heritage centre in the North East.

The 9ft by 7ft hut, which is around a century old, was used by the ferryman who would row people across the estuary of the River Aln at Alnmouth.

The last ferryman, John Brown, is believed to have stopped working in the 1960s.

She decided to kit out the hut as a mini-museum with photographs of John Brown, the ferrymen who preceded him, called John Earle, various images of old Alnmouth fishermen, information about the ferry, and assorted memorabilia.

She won a grant from the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership, which paid for repairs to the structure.

Yesterday there was a champagne opening for the hut-cum-heritage centre.
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