Wilfred Pendle's Summerhouse, Bath and North East Somerset

Shed Features

This summer house was bought by my grandfather, Wilfred Pendle, sometime in the 50s or early 60s and was situated in his garden in Witham in Essex.

It was used as a playroom by my sister and me (at one point it contained a pair of BOAC aircraft seats, so it became a spaceship from time to time as well. ).

In his later years, my grandfather would sit in it to enjoy the afternoon sun.

When he passed away, my parents decided they would move the summer house to their garden in Bath. Although rather heavy, the construction of the building is very simple.

There are seven pieces: a floor, one solid wall, two walls with windows, one with windows and double doors, and a two-part pitched roof.

The structure was so well designed, it slots together, requiring only eight bolts to secure it. It lived in Bath from 1980 to 2004, again being used as a playroom and sunroom, although sadly the BOAC seats somehow disappeared - maybe they flew away.

At that point we moved the summer house again to its current position in our garden in Hove.

Many sunny Sunday lunches were enjoyed there but sadly one of the windows blew in during the storms last year and we never quite got round to repairing it - and now it has to make way for a bigger, soundproofed building, for our ever-noisier musical offspring.

We'll be sorry to see it go.

It holds many fond memories - we're sure it will for its next owner too.

The basic structure is sound, although the door and window frames have deteriorated and one corner of the floor is quite rotted, although cutting this away would allow power to be brought in, one thing I was always going to do, someday.