There's More to Garden Sheds than Meets the Eye
Garden sheds are not only for storing tools and lawnmowers, they also make great garden getaways, places for social gatherings, offices, and even art studios.
While these uses may not be all that surprising, some people have done things with their sheds that most of us wouldn't even consider in our wildest dreams.
In the first of our amazing stories, one man uses his garden shed for a 'journey' into outer space, whilst in the stories that follow you will read about sheds, themselves, that weren't just confined to the garden. We hope you enjoy reading these extraordinary adventures about sheds.
Out of the Ordinary
Imagine travelling to the stars from your own garden shed. That is exactly what one amateur astronomer did by creating a homemade telescope in his garden shed.
Not only did Dave Grennan build his own telescope, he also discovered rare supernovas from this humble garden shed observatory.
The significance of Grennan’s discoveries is amplified by his extraordinary success rate in finding stars, because Ireland only has an average of between six and twelve clear skies per month. Furthermore, the night sky is too bright to search for these phenomena between May and August.
Grennan’s discoveries have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union. He has been making discoveries, which include a minor planet, since 2008.
Pick up an affordable telescope and you too can take a trip to the stars from your own garden shed.
Two-Wheeled Adventure
This next story literally takes the garden shed and puts it on wheels. In 2015, two friends from Flintshire decided to complete the Barmy to Barcelona challenge in a vehicle disguised as a garden shed.
Jay Miotti and Gwyn Graham took on this wacky challenge to raise funds for charity. Miotti’s charity, Flintshire Mind, aims to support people, as well as their families, who are dealing with mental health issues. Graham’s charity, Awyr Las Gogledd Cymru – Blue Sky North Wales, is one that helps young children who are living with diabetes.
The two dressed themselves up as sunflowers and took their £300 Ford Ka garden shed from Chester down to the Euro Tunnel, before embarking on the journey to Spain. Miotti and Graham made their way through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and, finally, Spain.
Throughout their trip, they posted updates via social media and, in the end, completed over 1900 miles in their travelling garden shed.
Sea Voyage
It may seem a bit odd and maybe even a bit crazy to take a car disguised as a garden shed on the road, but it's probably not as crazy as taking a garden shed to sea.
At 84 years of age, the ancient mariner, Anthony Smith, decided to take a voyage across the Atlantic in what equates to a garden shed. Smith had been on many adventures during his life, but this would be the pinnacle.
He decided to recreate a voyage that he'd read about in a book, given to him as a child by his father.
The book, 'Two Survived', is based on a true story about a Merchant Navy ship, 'The Anglo-Saxon', which was sunk by a German warship in 1940. It happened just off the Canary Islands, with 41 men aboard.
Only seven of the men survived the sinking and made it to the lifeboat. After weeks floating at sea, some of them opted for suicide, rather than starving to death. For 70 days, the lifeboat drifted, until it ran aground on the island of Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, with only two surviving sailors.
Smith and his crew set about building a raft to recreate the journey, using sections of thick plastic piping and wooden planks, with a metal shed acting as the cabin and a telegraph pole to accomodate the single sail.
This is one garden shed story you simply must read more about.
While we're not suggesting you try any of the above, we do think a shed makes for unbeatable garden storage, so click here to view Shedstore's fantastic range of garden sheds for sale.