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Meet the Shed of the Year contenders who've built pubs in their back gardens

David Morris built this swish bar with virtually no help - COPYRIGHT JAY WILLIAMS
David Morris built this swish bar with virtually no help - COPYRIGHT JAY WILLIAMS

If you think your significant other spends too much time in the shed, then look away now. Look down the garden, where he or she might be attempting to emulate the standout entrants from this year’s Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition: the pub sheds.

A brief note on the rest of the competition before we take a look at the magical fusion of shed and pub. Shed of the Year, a competition that has been running annually since 2007, ­attracted 2,971 entries this year, and from these the organisers selected 24 entrants, across eight categories, for the public vote. The categories were eco sheds, cabin and summerhouse sheds, workshop and studio sheds, budget sheds, historic sheds, pub and entertainment sheds, not-actually-shed-sheds – which comprise a boat, a retired taxi and a cabinful of Lego – and unique sheds that didn’t fit any of those categories. The unique sheds are a very chic wooden hut made from the upturned prow of a boat; an elfin two-storey job with a roundhouse below and a yurt above; and a sleek, cube-shaped summerhouse whose walls can be re­arranged depending on the weather.

Voting closed on Aug 28 at midday, and the top-voted shed from each ­category will go forward to a final in which three judges will pick the winner of the title of Shed of the Year, which will be announced tomorrow.

Looking at the shortlist, there’s no doubt the winner will be worthy. There are many impressive creations on the list, but the category that will win the most hearts is the pub shed category. How can we but salute the blokes (all three of them are blokes, obviously) who have amalgamated their two great passions? How can we look without envy upon what they have wrought?

I had many questions to ask these gentlemen, starting with: “Can you make one for me?” You could do a lot worse than have a pub shed made for you by David Morris, a 41-year-old ­electrician from Blackwood, Caerphilly. Morris, who is one of the pub category’s three shortlisted sheddies, allowed me to visit the highly impressive shed he’s built in his garden, and, bloody hell, it’s not bad at all. What used to be a small-to-medium-sized garden is now a handsome confection of paving stones and decking, of which the ­centrepiece is Noah’s.

The shed - Credit: Jay Williams
Morris' shed has a distinctive sideways U shape Credit: Jay Williams

Noah’s is Morris’s pub-shed, and the first thing you notice on seeing it is how its roof curves, Escher-like, into its floor. Think of a “U” turned on its side and you’ll have an idea of how it looks. The exterior of Noah’s is all rendered in decking, apart from some pretty-looking oyster stone by the double doors through which you access the pub. Inside, there are two grey garden sofas, a long wooden table with six metal chairs around it, and a little curved bar in the corner. Wooden boards make up the walls, too, and the ceiling that the walls curve into. It’s a clean, cosy, sort of space, and it’s ­remarkable that Morris, a father of two teenagers, has not only found the time to do it, merrily building away every weekend, but has also done so with his family’s approval.

Morris in the shed - Credit:  JAY WILLIAMS
Morris and his family use the space to entertain Credit: JAY WILLIAMS

They love being able to use it as an entertaining space, Morris explains – but they might not have seen it all ­coming together this way. He started building in 2015 during a ­period of abysmal weather. “It hammered down for weeks and weeks,” he remembers. “The neighbours would shout, ‘Noah! Noah! You’re building an ark!’ As the project mutated from a shelter to an enclosed space to what is now pretty much a pub in all but licence, the neighbours grew more interested, and came to see it couple by couple – or, if you will, two-by-two. Hence Noah’s. “A couple of people said it and it stuck,” says Morris.

The maritime theme continues with the Admiral’s Head, which was built by a Royal Navy veteran, Lee Carrie, and has the nautical regalia to prove it: flags, tankards, and a picture of Lord Nelson. The two main beams supporting the roof are hung with pictures of warships past and present, five of which Carrie has served on. The size of a small log cabin, it’s nevertheless been kitted out with Wi-Fi, Sky Sports and BT Sport, and it only took Carrie, who lives in Essex, a year to build. You can bet there is plenty of rum behind the bar.

Doug Smith, of Blackpool, Hambleton, is the final sheddie competing in the pub shed category. He tells me over the phone how his entry came to be. Back in 2014, he and his partner were spending an evening with friends when someone produced a picture of a well put-together little bar. Smith and a friend challenged each to emulate it. 

The pub and tower - Credit: Handout
Doug Smith's pub has a Blackpool Tower replica on its roof Credit: Handout

“Four years later,” says Smith, “he still hasn’t started! But he comes around for a beer.” They drink at O’Smithers, which takes the form of an Irish pub and celebrates Smith’s love of the country’s rugby team. It took four years and the help of an electrician, but is still an almighty surprise for anyone wandering into Smith’s garden, not least because of the 25ft replica of Blackpool Tower on its roof. “I built the usual rabbit hutch when my kids had rabbits,” says Smith, “but no more than that. If someone had shown me a picture of it four years ago, I’d never have believed it, not in a million years.”

Like Carrie and Morris, Smith, 59, is hoping for the £1,000 prize that will be awarded to the overall winner. “If we win, we’ll celebrate in the shed – the only place to celebrate. As the Irish say, the Guinness will be flowing and the craic will be mighty.” It may be an even bigger party than his wedding, to Caroline, 56, a month ago – no prizes for guessing where they held the reception.

The pair behind the bar - Credit: Handout
John and Joy Parks will next rebuild the Bush Inn next year Credit: Handout

The final shortlist could even include a pub-shed double, since the “historic” category includes the Bush Inn, a temporary Forties pub knocked up by John and Joy Parks, amateur re-enactors, for their fellow enthusiasts. They reconstruct it for re-enactment festivals, and it’s so convincing, festival-goers think it’s real. “A lot of them think it’s a real pub,” says John, “and they’re getting their wallets out and they’re turning to their friends and saying, ‘What do you want?’.”

It’s hard to fault these would-be patrons. The Bush Inn is authentic down to the wooden beams and wireless set. Anyone who’s been hoodwinked can take the example of the many other amateurs, many of whose exploits are chronicled on the competition’s website, readersheds.co.uk, who have built pub sheds of their own – like those above, they won’t be licensed to sell alcohol to the public, but will serve as private idylls. Expect a few more to join them following this year’s final. As for Morris, he’s got other plans – building a shed to house his hot tub.