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 rebuilding another hut on a set of old wheels. Realising there were contemporary uses for such a traditional feature of the countryside, ‘Plankbridge Shepherds’ Huts’ was born.

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 were an inspiration to Richard since his teenage years, so Plankbridge is so named in honour of that book, and his long standing fondness for rivers, lakes and streams.

What to 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 more likely to be 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 have recently invested in another, smaller, casting pattern of our wheel, so Plankbridge huts will now have the traditional small and larger pairs of wheels.

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.

Waterston Springs
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. Two of the beds are gradually being restored, and will be in organic production soon.
From about 1970 to the early 1990’s the site was owned by the Freshwater Biological Association, whose head office is on Lake Windermere. They used Waterston as a Southern laboratory, 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.

Since 1998 we have been making things from the small workshop in one of the former laboratories. We have recently built a large new workshop to build the shepherds’ huts in.

Wetland nature reserve
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.

Despite the distant sound of traffic reminding us of the crazy, hectic modern world Waterston Springs remains a natural, watery haven in which to live and work.