Many homeowners have an old shed at the bottom of their garden that's filled with old junk and tools. But one man has made his shed into a 'haven of fun'.
Simon Cork, from Betley, near Crewe, transformed his decking area into a bar where he spends 'nights out' with friends and family. He had no previous building experience until he created his very own pub - The Popped Cork.
After wowing his visitors, he's now entered the annual 'Shed of the Year' contest. Simon and his wife Debby found they had plenty of free time on their hands during the pandemic lockdowns, so decided to get stuck into a project together, CheshireLive reports.
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It took them three months and the finished result left everyone "gobsmacked". "It’s a kind of manifestation really," explained Simon.
"It started off during Covid. We thought we've got an area at the back of the garden we want to do something with.
"It used to be the kids play area. It started off with the deck and one thing led to another. We put the shed onto the decking and that turned into a bar.
"We thought we want to make this an all-year round kind of thing. It completely manifested from there. It turned into our little haven of fun should we say, for friends and family.
"We're really pleased with how it's turned out but we've done it all ourselves." Simon never really set out any exact plans, the project just kept growing as he had new ideas.
"We already had that sort of an imagination in our head anyway," he explained. "We just never thought it would turn out how it has. It’s mainly family and friends who come around for drinks and a meal and they’re all gobsmacked as to what we’ve done.
"We’ve got the TV for the sport and we've got the darts in. We converted a whiskey barrel chopped in half into a dartboard. And then the bottom half underneath is a wine filler. We just got handy with wood!"
CheshireLive asked Simon if he’d ever thought of setting up business following the success of his project. He said: "We started doing things out of whiskey barrels - like clocks and coat hangers - so it has kind of manifested into the crafty business. But it's not a full on business yet, more of a hobby."
Simon, who one night had a Robbie Williams tribute act at The Popping Cork to entertain his friends, was too late to enter the Shed of the Year contest in 2021. But he's thrown his impressive project into the hat this year to see how far he can get.
Whether he wins remains to be seen, but what is clear is that The Popped Cork looks like a great place for a night out.
