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Nev's Sheds

Nev, a long time member of TTTG, lives in the New England district of New South Wales, an area dotted with sheds, however, very few of these sheds are as interesting as Nev's sheds.

The persistence of this down to earth gentleman landed us on his doorstep. We were soon 'one of the family' and unwinding as we were given the run of the place.

There they were, one imposing shed with several out buildings. The additions to the larger shed obviously grew out of the need for more space - a man's shed is never big enough.

You must understand, country sheds are unique, no carpets on the floor, no ordered shadow boards or clear bench tops, no contents carefully pigeonholed and neatly labelled, there is just a relaxed accumulation of spoils atmospherically enhanced with a blended aroma of farm, engine oil and a mustiness of aged wood not commercially available in a spray can. It was good to be in a real shed.

The squawk of a chook as it flew out from under the bench followed by a smirking rooster was a fitting prelude to a most interesting excursion. At first scan of the scene we took in the remnants of yesterday's projects, and a mix of jobs to do and machines to do them, not overlooking the things hanging on hooks and sitting on shelves, there must be more. On venturing further around into half light, it was a different scene with a mix of planes, piles of floor cramps, farm implements and many a whatsit that would challenge the most curious mind.

For the purpose of this story I will focus on a piece of ironmongery from days long gone. The Mathieson mortising machine, similar to one that I had restored many years back, presented an imposing image of power and purpose, I won't delve into details or description of this machine as they are very well documented, however, in the light of recent discussions on 'to restore or not', I viewed this old warrior in a different light.

There it stood spider webs and all, garnished with a sprinkling of dust blending nicely with rust.

What an evocative image.

One must ask 'could this be reproduced?'

Perhaps, but would this evoke the same mood?

Sure, a fully restored centre piece in an Industrial Museum would be impressive; however, it certainly would be out of place in Nev's shed and would lose all of the character collected through its years of service and storage. The argument is academic, none the less; my advice to Nev is 'don't even touch the spider webs'.

Nev recently told me he caught a fox the other week that had taken up residence in one of his sheds. When asked if it had killed any of his chickens, he answered 'I wouldn't know I never count them.'

Now that's country life.