Shed Life - Men's Shed

Castle Douglas Men Shed’s growth following relocation Castle Douglas Men’s Shed has been steadily growing in popularity since its move just over a year ago. Founding member James Robertson said: “We moved from small beginnings to our new larger premises and are delighted to share that membership has grown impressively with the space.

‘Before we moved, we had up to ten members attending, now we have 35+ members, with around 20 coming along regularly on Wednesdays and a few coming in on other days to do their own thing. Another contributing factor to our growth has been the launch of our own Facebook group, which already has 180+ members and is raising our profile with the local community and become a place to sell our items.

In our new shed, while one chap fixes old bikes in one space, another will be turning items on the wood lathe and some are busing making cutting boards and special flower planters and a team are making bird nesting boxes, bird feeding tables and squirrel feeders. One member Alistair, on his first attempt with the wood lathe made a beautiful and simple wooden shallow dish with a small foot with a little help from his friend. During the past summer, a team renewed styles down by the river for the angling association, later on some men painted the finger post signs in town, a task long overdue and it is now all looking super.

In November, Andrew Nest of the south west Scotland grassland society visited the shed and asked if we could restore their treasured rose bowl trophy by making a plinth to replace the original. We turned a new one from, a nice piece of oak and was delighted when he collected it and left a kind donation towards are funds.

Membership is growing every week and we receiving more and more support from the community including donations of wood and pallets. A very interesting donation came when our local fire brigade volunteers approached us with the idea of taking, restoring and caring for a 160-year-old beautiful fire engine built and bought for princely sum of £145 by Castle Douglas Burgh Fire Brigade between 1851 and 1866. Some funding will e required for a couple of specialist jobs but it will certainly make a very interesting project for our members.

Men enjoy coming along to join in with the happy bunch where everyone is welcome, providing they are willing to get on with others. Our rules are simple and straight forward and each new member is read the rules on entry. Our Shed is a place where men enjoy the company along with the tea breaks. Exciting times are ahead. ‘

Castle Douglas Men’s Shed; 1/2 Carlingwark Street every Wednesday afternoon from 1pm–4pm.