Caught this a few years ago on a drive towards Stroud, one of my favourite towns in Gloucestershire. The Slad Valley is one of the five valleys around Stroud, made famous by writer and poet Laurie Lee and his book “Cider with Rosie”. This shed is on the main road through Slad and was still there just a few weeks ago when I did the same route. “Cider with Rosie” is a very good read, sometimes described as a love story about a time when things were simpler, with no modern gadgets and very little traffic through the village, but it has its darker side. An unsolved murder occurs within the village.

Blessed on the day I drove through with this lovely spring light. In common with many sheds one rarely sees people either in them or at times around them. I always like to imagine what might be in them, secrets of a family perhaps, old tools ( another of my favourite things ) or just a bit of old tat. I once ‘inherited’ a shed when we bought our first house and garden. The previous owner had bequeathed the contents to us, including a box full of old tools, I was over the moon, but probably never used any of them. Some of them I did not recognise and had to ask my neighbour, a local poacher and road worker, what they might be for. Norrie know what most things were for, but even he did not recognise some of the gems within the shed. I think I left them all when we sold the house, and the shed with it. Perhaps they are still there.

What’s in your shed?