Shed barbie: Shedman’s holiday & cider

I had a call from an old friend of mine last month, inviting me to his lovely house and garden in the wilds of Herefordshire. He followed up with the words “Shed Barbie” I was confused.

Anyway, he wanted me to “judge” the demolition of two well-past-it garden sheds, they were to be taken apart by his daughter and her engineering uni friends.

I would normally balk at the idea of shed demolition, but since it was Will, whom I have known for more than 30 years but have not seen for at least 12, it was an invitation I could not pass up to visit an old friend and to meet his family again (his girls were toddlers the last time I saw them). Furthermore, the offer of food and as much Hereford cider as I could drink were maybe the clinchers 😉

So I took the train from Cardiff to Hereford on a lovely Thursday morning.

And was picked up but not blindfolded and taken to a secret location 25 minutes from Hereford (somewhere near the Welsh border).

The next hour was a blur of hammers and crowbars, and for one shed, Team A had to start with a big push to get it away from the greenhouse.

There was only one slight injury with a nail and a shoe and foot saying ‘hello’, but nothing was life-threatening. and we had HSE on site, with a backup rescue dog.

Of course it was a competition, as these young people like a challenge; there were such points awarded or taken away for swearing (in Welsh or English), damaging the surroundings, collecting all the nails & screws safely, being first to get down to the ground, plus a few others. Also, some safe larking around was allowed

My cider had started to kick in, so I was chilling sitting by the pond, petting the dog, and taking in the rays and the lovely garden until they finished.

But well done to all; Team A won in the end.

Katy, Charlotte, Max (Team A)
Ollie, Maxim, Adam (Team B)
Officials – Will (QC), Angie (HSE, video & official photos), Uncle Wilco (WC)
Cheerleaders – Becky & Lucy

What followed was a lovely evening of music, maybe more cider, chatting and burgers & accompaniments; some say it was the best coleslaw they have ever had, but I won’t be the judge of that either (as I made it!).

I now have to come up with some small shed ideas for Will to fill in the gaps

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