I have always been a fan of sheds perhaps because I remember the happy times I spent in my Grandad’s shed, looking at his garden, chatting and drinking tea ! There is even a book entitled « The Joy of Sheds » - which talks about the many types of sheds which are places where you can go, usually at the bottom of your garden, to reflect, practise your hobby, play music, read, find inspiration – sheds are creative places where you can dream and even realise your dreams.
There is another book which speaks about « the Magic of Sheds » - as places where you can seek refuge (with the spiders), meditate, think, empty your mind, dance, play the guitar and just smile and of course all accompanied by « shed tea ».
A friend who lives in the North of England recently told me about a special shed or hut as they can be called, near to where he lives, it is the Ferryman’s Hut in Alnmouth on the Northumberland coast and it is said to be the smallest museum in the country (if not in the world !).The ‘museum shed’ is open every day from sunrise to sunset and contains memorabilia from the time when a ferryman would row people across the River Aln to reach the lovely beach and its beach huts on the other side.
John Brown was the last ferryman in the 1960’s , he rowed up to 6 people across the estuary in his boat and charged them 3 pennies or 2 pennies at low tide ! He stored his equipmeent for his boat in the shed and when people no longer wanted to be ferried across the river the hut fell into disrepair. However, a local artist revitalised the hut, hung up many photos and paintings and different items from the little ferry boat and it opened as the Ferryman’s Hut museum !
The hut is small, just space for 2 people to visit together. Local man Donald and his dog open up the museum every day, it is free, and often he sits outside in his deckchair to answer visitors’ questions. The visitor’s book shows people have come from New Zealand, Canada, Majorca and some people return with happy childhood memories of the ferry and leave lovely messages for Donald. It seems that now the easiest way to cross the river is to wait for low tide, take off your shoes and socks and walk to the beach !
However, the history of the ferryman and his boat lives on in this tiny museum, where ‘small is beautiful’ and just underlines the magic and joy of sheds !
