Shepherd's Hut Blog

Longer huts and level bases

Plankbridge — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:50:52 +0100

We are about to start on our first 14' hut, which is the limit to which we will go (we certainly don't build them wider, as the proportions would be all wrong on a shepherd's hut) but a bit longer will work OK. It allows our customer to add a shower in the corner, plus a woodburner and small kitchen area.

We are often asked about the base on which the hut should stand. We have arrived on site a few times to find some pretty bad attempts at a level base, sometimes even that were made by a local 'professional' in such things. It's a shame when we roll a hut onto a new concrete slab base and the slabs crack in half. At the very least the hut needs to stand on fairly level ground. It it's soft ground, or will get soft in winter, there needs to be something to spread the load under each wheel, such as treated timber planks, railway sleepers, flagstones etc. Huts look good standing on grass, but if you want a more formal area around the hut then a border of railway sleepers, dug in level, with a base of landscape fabric filled with scalpings or gravel looks good. We have sited huts on properly prepared flagstone bases, and in the right setting this looks very smart, as does a brick base.

Getting the base level may not that easy, especially on sloping ground. What doesnt work (and we've seen it more than once!) is to dig two holes on the high side of the slope to drop the wheels into. It's a bit like burying half the wheels of the hut, which just isn't right.

River Cottage comes together

Plankbridge — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:25:05 +0100

With all the huts now in place at River Cottage HQ, sited above the farm house and valley beyond, River Cottage guests can enjoy a night, and breakfast, on site. Steve from River Cottage made a film of the last hut being loaded at our workshop and then the unloading, and a short interview with Richard and Jane, which hopefully will be online soon. Despite August being the month when everyone else seems to be away we are cracking on with the huts on order with a spring in our step. We will be showing a hut at Dorset County Show in early September, so we are building up to putting some kind of display together for that.

Summertime news

Plankbridge — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:41:01 +0100

The 'River Cottage five' huts are just being finished and will be delivered to the HQ during July. They are having one Riverkeeper's hut and four shepherds' huts, which will look fantastic on the hill above the farmhouse. We have started using the new 'Plankbridge green' paint (also available in a wide range of other colours) on the corrugated cladding, which is exactly the shade of green we have been searching for, in a durable flat finish. After years of using different types of finish, oil and waterbased, on the corrugated we have finally settled on a really good solution.

With seven huts on the go in the yard and workshop, things are pretty hectic. As a balance there is a wealth of wildlife at the moment, including a family of swans (cobb, penn and seven cygnetts) which have taken up residence on the pond behind the house. The kingfisher is around everyday, enjoying the sticklebacks as the water level drops after the long dry spell. The wet meadow (designated a site of nature conservation interest) will soon be due it's annual cut with a finger mower and raked up. Treated like a traditional hay meadow, and using the finger mower which doesnt chop up all the insect life, the area is doing really well. When we first started managing it there were 20 or so Southern Marsh orchids. This year I counted just short of 200.

Plankbridge featured in a new book

Plankbridge — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:05:53 +0100

Following closely behind the 'My cool caravan' book we feature in a new book by Alex Johnson called 'Shedworking - an alternative workplace revolution'. There's an interior and exterior picture of our huts on page 44 and 45, with a write up on page 47. We have lots of huts out there being used as home offices, with several people carrying out their daily work from them.

We are just finishing the restoration of the Reeves hut, which will be delivered soon. The new windows (made from Herefordshire oak) seem to 'sit well' in such an original hut, and photos will appear on the restoration section soon. We have made a 6' by 6' bed, which folds away to a day bed when not in use. Another, quite unusual hut has arrived for restoration which was built on artillery wheels and a heavy wooden chassis, similar in style to a gypsy wagon. Johnno, our resident restorer will set about this soon, starting with the molycroft roof. The hut has a feel of the hut in Danny the champion of the world, and despite being probably an amateur effort the proportions really work. The family of our customer used to tow it to the coast for holidays in the 1950's. It will look stunning when it's done, particularly in some suitable colours!

Latest hut delivered to vineyard

Plankbridge — Mon, 17 May 2010 05:54:02 +0100

We have just delivered an interesting hut to Portesham vineyard, not far from us in South Dorset. It's an island bothy version (door on the side, which obviously is not a classic shepherd's hut but it suits some people). We built in a separate 4'6" bedroom area, with the bed in two folding sections on wooden hinges. When raised up the underside of the bed sections are shelves for wine bottles, so the vineyard owner can stand and serve wine from a counter top, with the option of a 4'6" by 6'6" bed when required! We added a wood burner, dresser cupboard, shelves, fold down desk and belly box underneath for storage of the solar charging kit, which links into the 240 volt wiring via an inverter.

We also made a 5 metre canvas awning (made from the same top quality strong canvas that was used for the canvas backs of soft top Land Rovers) with turned softwood poles, smart guy ropes and oak toggles for tensioning. We can now offer side awnings (with sides too if needed) from 2 metres to 5 metres wide, increasing the useful floor space of a hut.