Shed of the year 2024, Sponsored by 
I started building my allotment shed about 10 years ago. Then I found the 'Teignmouth Museum' sign in a skip outside the museum when it was being renovated. Since then the rule is that if I find a sign not doing what it is meant to be doing (i.e. pointing at something) and lying in a hedge or a skip, then it is brought to the Museum and displayed. Because it had a sign saying 'museum', it has also meant that the shed has become a museum. Over the years a fine collection of oil paintings by reputable local artists has been salvaged from skips and recycling centres and now form part of the permanent collection. The Museum has an extensive natural history collection, including spiders (alive), a mouse (last seen alive), wasps (alive) and a variety of native bees (alive). Finds from the site are on display, these include clay pipes (no longer working), Victorian ceramics, glassware, rusty things and horse-shoes, all testimony to our area's proud tradition of working, smoking and drinking tea. The allotment holders also bring artefacts they have found to the Museum and, after lock-down, we are having an exhibition opening, with cheese and wine and a guest speaker. The Museum is currently being rebranded to appeal to younger audiences and schools. It will re- open as 'K-BHAM! - KingsBridge Hill Allotment Museum' with interactives, such as 'Big Spider', 'Why are Wasps?' and 'How many tits in the box?'. 'An eye-watering display of skipabilia. Worthy of the hard work of the curator who is literally outstanding in his field'. Neil MacGregor, Former Director of the British Museum.
The Museum has extensive external seating for visitors and for tea and wine. It has three bird-boxes, one with a family of tits, one with bees and one with wasps. The Museum is made entirely from reclaimed doors, windows, timber and furniture - the only money I have spent is on screws/ nails (which I bought with 6.20 lotto win, so the Museum is technically Lottery-funded). It has a lovely climbing rose over the top and a very productive vine, from which a drinkable 'Chateau Musee' is produced.
