FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

There are a number of questions that people who are considering a shepherds' hut, and those who have ordered, often ask.  We are compiling a 'frequently asked questions' section below.  If you have a question which you feel should covered here do email it to us, and we will add it to the list.

How long have you been making huts?

We rebuilt a Victorian original in the year 2000, so eleven years ago.  I reckon that after the 50th new build hut we really hit our stride, the detailing and construction having evolved through the regular making process.  Some philosopher apparently said that you know your craft after 5000 hours.  We get great pleasure from that evolution and development which has lead to the high quality huts we build today.  We delivered our 100th hut in Autumn 2011.

How did we start making shepherds’ huts?

 
There was an old, very decayed hut not far from us on a drove leading to Higher Bockhampton, where Thomas Hardy was born. Despite its dilapidated state that ancient hut had a certain charm and character. A shepherd’s hut features in Hardy’s classic novel ‘Far from the madding crowd’ and it is very possible that Hardy himself would have walked past that very hut. Gabriel Oak’s shepherd’s hut, in the early chapters of the novel, was based on downland near Toller Porcorum, but Hardy based the rest of the novel on the houses and farms around Waterston Springs. Waterston Manor was the home of Bathsheba Everdene, and Druce Farm the home of Farmer Boldwood and the sheepwash, sadly now filled in, was in the adjacent field.

Unfortunately the old hut was sold in the year 2000; we saw it go past on a lorry, so we set about re - building a reproduction hut on a set of old wheels. Richard was keen to utilise eight years of fine furniture and timber frame house building experience within a design that could be delivered to site 'ready to go'.  The shepherds hut was exactly what Richard had been searching for.  Having trained at John Makepeace's Hooke Park College (now a centre for architectural research) Richard was driven to follow the self employed path since leaving Hooke in 1994, using timber as a primary resource.  A bit of research at the time revealed there were only a couple of other hut makers around, and there was obviously room for a traditional looking shepherd's hut fitted out for contemporary uses.  A run of restorations helped to really get to grips with the detailing and construction methods of the various foundries and works that produced the best huts of the past.

Does the roof rattle when it rains?

No.  The roof is insulated, (and lined with breather membrane and vapour barrier)  You are aware of outside weather conditions, but there is no drumming noise that might be expected on an old, original hut.

What base does it need?

It depends where it is going.  Just a length of preservative treated 6" x 1" timber under each wheel would be OK if the ground is soft.  It helps to spread the load.  Some people build elaborate brick and stone bases, which look good in some situations.  The huts are 2.3m wide (the outside to outside of the wheels, by 3.7 metres long, usually.  We do build huts up to 14' long.

How does a hut get sited?

The huts are usually delivered by Land Rover and trailer.  The Land Rover has a powerful winch on the front, which is sometimes needed to pull, via a pully block, the hut into position.  We also sometimes have to use a jack for a sideways movement.  The easiest deliveries are where the Land Rover and trailer can get close to the site, and the hut is simply rolled down the ramps.  In garden situations huts we often have to negotiate trees, tight turns and banks.

How movable are they?

On hard surfaces one or two people can move a hut around.  On grass, gravel etc. a small tractor, Land Rover or similar is needed (or lots of people)  They have a very tight turning circle ( the axle being mounted on greased steering plates) with the wheels able to steer right under the body of the hut. They are remarkably good at turning corners.  The huts are fitted with a draw bar with an eye for a pin hitch.  

We found an old advertising card for the Reeves of Bratton works, and I really like the descriptive language they used.  It works well, so we have ammended the card to describe our huts too.

PLANKBRIDGE’S

IMPROVED PORTABLE HOUSES

or traditional shepherds’ huts for modern day uses.

These shepherds’ huts are most carefully and substantially built by us, being stoutly made with strong, painted corrugated cladding over a traditional wooden frame, modern insulation, vapour barrier and breather membrane.  The interior is lined with painted matched boarding, and the floor is made of good stout French oak boards, tongued and grooved.  The whole is mounted on a very substantial metal and timber under-carriage, with good, serviceable iron wheels and a strong hand forged draw bar for towing.

.They are 12’ long, 6’6” wide plus the wheels and 10’3” to the top of the curve.  Each hut can be fitted with a good and durable stove, all have a stable door divided into upper and lower half with a secure lock and forged latch, double glazed windows and a flight of strong steps leading thereto.

They are the most complete and durable articles for any likely purpose on offer to the public.  These huts are invaluable to all flock-masters and householders for use throughout the seasons.

Where does the name Plankbridge come from?
There is a wonderful book 'A plank bridge by a pool', which tells the story of the artist Norman Thelwell creating lakes and bridges at his home on the river Test.  Thelwell's autobiographies have been an inspiration to Richard since his teenage years.  Plankbridge is named in honour of that book, and Richard's long standing fondness for rivers, lakes and streams.

What should we look for in a shepherd’s hut?
Shepherds huts were made by local foundries and engineering firms, and sometimes made on the farm by the blacksmith or farm workers. Early huts were pulled out to the downs by horse, and later by steam engine, for the shepherd to shelter in during lambing and to attend to the sheep when they were folded with hazel hurdles on the fields.   It was a pretty basic living, but lambing would have been a busy time, day and night, and the shepherd would have been glad of the shelter, and the warmth of a small stove.
A genuine shepherd’s hut always has its wheels set out beyond the sides of the hut. If the wheels are under the hut it is a living van, towed behind steam rollers for roadmen and other trades to live in whilst on the road. The door of a shepherds hut should always be at the other end to the steering plate end; the opposite is true of a living van. If there are large wheels and small wheels, the larger pair would be at the door end, the smaller wheels being free to pass under the sides as the hut is steered. We invested in two casting patterns; one large and one smaller for our wheels, which are made from traditional cast iron.

Good shepherd’s huts of the past were well made with lots of craftsman made hand-forged ironwork and quality joinery. We too only use hand crafted ironwork, and certainly wouldn’t allow modern fixings, like shiny pozidrive screws and coach bolts, to be on show!

The Shakers in America, who reached unmatched standards of quality in their work, said that ‘Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle.’ Gustav Stickley, one of the Arts and Crafts makers of the early 1900’s aimed to produce work that ‘would be first of all practical and comfortable, that would last a man’s lifetime, without being much the worst for wear; the kind of things one could take pride in handing down to one’s grandchildren.’ We endeavour to carry over this approach into our work too.

About Waterston Springs, where Plankbridge started.

Waterston Springs was, from Victorian times until the 1960’s, a watercress farm for the Dorset firm of Bedford and Jesty, making productive use of the abundant chalk springs.  From about 1970 to the early 1990’s the site was owned by the Freshwater Biological Association, whose head office was on Lake Windermere. They used Waterston as a Southern laboratory, an annexe to a larger site near Wareham, conducting a range of research into fish and plant biology. They discovered five varieties of subterranean shrimps, making Waterston Springs a nationally important site for shrimps that live in the aquifers within the gravel and chalk.

We made furniture, kitchens, garden buildings etc. in the former laboratory which we adapted into a small workshop.  Once the shepherds huts became the mainstay of the business we built a timber workshop in the yard, producing our huts and restoring old ones up until Spring 2011.  After a year of searching and a planning application we moved the workshop into a former grain store on a farm up on the downland above Piddlehinton, a short distance from Waterston Springs across the fields.  This has provided the space we need to create a dry, heated paint shop (essential for a professional, long lasting finish), lots of storage and workbench space.  It sets Plankbridge Ltd. up to produce the very best huts within a sensible lead time going forward.

With rural Dorset now being under fairly intensive agriculture we manage Waterston Springs as a small wetland nature reserve, and we were really pleased when part of it became a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. The kingfisher is a regular visitor, there are still some watervoles and otters regularly pass through. The wet meadow has a particularly good variety of wetland flora and fauna, and we cut this annually with a modern version of the old Allen scythe, managing the sward much like a traditional hay meadow.

With the workshop now based at Carters Barn Farm, on the downs nearby above Piddlehinton, Waterston Springs remains a natural, watery haven.  A show hut is still based there, so a hut can be seen in the natural setting.