Recent past events

Recent past events

Over the course of 2025, we had a presence at:

Bitterne library (craft fayre); 

Pear Tree Church in Southampton (Summer Fete on Pear Tree Green);

Sholing Valleys Spring Fayre;

Trifest 2025 (https://trifest.uk/). 

We hope to continue to be involved in these and other events in 2026.

We were also invited to the Open Day at the Police Training Centre in Hamble Lane, where the benches we had restored were very much in evidence (Michael seen here also inveighing against scams):

Recent shed club outings

There was a shed club visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton on 8th January 2026.

Visits in 2025 included Milestones, Basingstoke, the Screwfix Annual Exhibition, the Duxford Summer Air Show, and the Eastbourne Air Show in August 2025.

One of our members, Rob, tried his hand (successfully!) at sky-diving, organised by Saints Foundation. He raised £875: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/saints-foundation-big-saints-skydive  

Shieldhall visit

At the end of 2025 we visited the SS Shieldhall, a sewage ship from 1955 (but built to a 1910 design) that has been fully restored, and is kept running. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Erection of Spitfire Makers plaque at Deepdene

2025 also saw us erecting a Spitfire Makers plaque at Deepdene. The photos are fairly self-explanatory, but after the Supermarine factory in Woolston was bombed by the Luftwaffe in 1940, it was decided to disperse production of Spitfires to other sites in Southampton and elsewhere. The plaques are intended to commemorate the dispersed production, in this case at Deepdene, as the plaque states. Here are some pictures of the event.

Bug house kits for completion by children

We have been to several events where we take partly-completed bug house kits (often made by Tony Kingston), to be completed by children at the event. The first of these events was Bitterne library: 'Marvellous Makers', towards the end of 2024, there were also successful events at Peartree, and at  Bitterne Library Craft Fair, in 2025.

Here is a selection of photographs from these events.

Health and Wellbeing day (Chamberlayne)

Keith and Corne (chairman and vice-chairman) are here pictured at Chamberlayne (Weston, 2024), where we had a stall to display our wares. 

We returned to this event in 2025.

Screwfix Live

The annual Screwfix Live event is usually well-attended by shed club members, who can pick up bargains for themselves and for the club. Here in 2024 (left to right) are Keith Marsh (our chairman), Mike Nolan (organises the main shed - very important function), Graham Bullock (long-standing member), Corne (vice-chairman), Keith Brand (long-standing member), Den (project manager), Michael Clowes (in charge of health and safety). We returned to the event in 2025.

We visited again in 2025. 

Screwfix Live is an annual event which enables individuals, and the club, to purchase tools at a discount, so we almost certainly return in 2026.

Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre (chalk pits).

Some of us visited Amberley at the end of 2024, which is a few miles north of Arundel. It is a very full industrial museum, and also craft centre. Though the museum is mostly static, there is plenty of information provided, and it provides inspiration for things to look up in more detail on the Internet later.

Keith, our chairman and shedder for the year in 2025, took a number of pictures of the event, which are set out here. The attractions include histories of printing, of communications, and of electrical devices.

Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum

We went on a very interesting trip in February 2025. Here are some photos of the day.

Southwick Revival

A number of us visited Southwick Revival -  D-Day to VE-Day - in March 2025, a very interesting event. Here is a photo of the actual map used to plan the D-Day operations on 6th June 1944.