March News

From the Tetbury Advertiser – March 2025

March News – When the first Men in Sheds clubs were started in Australia, the name they adopted must have discouraged all but the toughest men to join up. When the message spread to Europe and America, the name was changed to Men’s Sheds as a compromise to those who thought “Men in Sheds” sounded too restrictive. But don’t let the name fool you, many sheds around the UK have women members and there is no reason why men should have all the fun.

There is always a lot of interest in our activities by visitors to the Goods Shed particularly from the wives and partners. Starting next month, we will be organising sessions in the workshop of interest to men AND women. Watch this space or our website for details.

One of the more unusual projects we have been involved in this month is helping to build a board for the weekly Goods Shed park runners.The Tetbury Goods Shed 5k parkrun is organised every Saturday morning by volunteers and leaves the Goods Shed at 9am. At the end of each run, parkrun participants are given a small plastic tag with a bar code, which is scanned to give runners their finish position and time. Until now, once participants have scanned their tag, they drop in into an old Quality Street tin.
But local runner Jason Evans and his three children (who are all runners) decided to design a board for parkrun finishers to hang their tags once they have been scanned. The Evans family’s design for the board was brought to life in partnership with Tetbury Men’s Shed. We always like a challenge so perhaps you could bring your project along to the shed, we may be able to help.

If you follow Tetbury Men’s Shed through our Advertiser articles or social media, you will know that most members come along to learn a new skill or pick up some tips on using various equipment. You may not be aware that we need volunteers to supervise our sessions. If you have a skill or interest that you could share, please let us know on the number below or leave a comment on our blog page. Our door is open to everyone, so why not join us on Wednesdays between 9.30 – 1.00 or Thursdays between 9.00 – 5.00. Find out more, contact us on 07955 088580. More details of our activities and where to find us are on our Tetbury Men’s Shed website www.tetburymensshed.co.uk      

…and from the allotment 

Our new and very large vegetable cage, constructed with limited instruction and even less ability, has attracted a degree of amusement and sympathetic interest in equal shares.  However, after three weeks it is now functional and with the pigeons now firmly excluded, our very popular broad beans are underway, along with several other early seasonal planters.  We have seen several customers unable to take the short walk home before broad beans are consumed so a larger crop is planned.  In the greenhouse we have numerous leeks and over twenty (always a favourite) Gardeners Delight tomato plants underway, all of which will soon be available for purchase.  Local traders continue to support our endeavours and this month we express our thanks to Nailsworth Garden Centre (Blue Diamond) for the donation of garlic and several onion sets.  March will see the seasonal increase in planting, we will keep you up to date on availability, plant or produce.  Visit us each Wednesday 10am to mid-day in Herd Lane, behind the Royal Oak.