‘IT TURNED INTO OUR LITTLE HAVEN OF FUN!’
Simon’s turned his shed into a place for a great night out
WHEN it comes to transforming a garden shed into a stylish outdoor bar - few have done it better than Simon Cork.
And he even once had a Robbie Williams tribute act appear at ‘The Popping Cork’ to entertain his pals.
Now Simon, of Betley, is hoping his creation is officially crowned the country’s finest after putting it forward in the annual ‘Shed of the Year’ contest.
Like many during the pandemic Simon, along with wife Debby, had time on their hands and decided to get stuck into a shed project.
Simon, who has no previous building experience,said: “It’s a kind of manifestation really. It started off during covid.
“We thought we’ve got an area at the back of the garden we want to do something with. It used to be the kids’ play area. It started off with the deck and one thing led to another. We put the shed onto the decking and that turned into a bar.“We thought we want to make this an all-year round kind of thing. It completely manifested from there. It turned into our little haven of fun should we say, for friends and family. We’re really pleased with how it’s turned out and we’ve done it all ourselves.”
Simon never set out with an exact plan and the ideas just came to him. He added: “We already had that sort of an image in our head anyway. We just never thought it would turn out how it has. It’s mainly family and friends who come around for drinks and a meal and they’re all gobsmacked as to what we’ve done.
“We’ve got the TV for the sport and we’ve got the darts in. We converted a whiskey barrel chopped in half into a dartboard. And then the bottom half underneath is a wine filler. We just got handy with wood!”
But have his skills inspired a business? Simon explained: “We started doing things out of whiskey barrels - like clocks and coat hangers - so it has kind of manifested into the crafty business. But it’s not a full on business yet, more of a hobby.” Simon, who one night had a Robbie Williams tribute act at The Popping Cork to entertain his friends, was too late to enter the Shed of the Year contest in 2021. But he’s thrown his impressive project into the hat this year to see how far he can get. Whether he wins remains to be seen, but what is clear is that The Popping Cork looks like a great place for a night out.