Four South East contenders vie for the UK title

Four South East sheds, three from Kent and one from Sussex, are in the running to be the UK’s top shed for 2024.

They are a bar built to watch the England Women’s World Cup campaign, an almost completely upcycled hut, a prefab allotment hut, and a bathroom and kitchen that was once a van.

The shortlist was narrowed down from 160 entrants.

The entrants are divided into nine different categories, with the winner decided by a public vote.

Zoe Bleach’s Lionesses Den in Gravesend was created to host viewing parties for the Women’s world cup in Australia in 2023, and is kitted out with memorabilia.

“All of the work was completed by ourselves or family members. No professionals touched it,” she said.

The Drover’s Halt in Sandwich was put together by Graham Doyle, using a van from 1915, railway sleepers and farmyard scrap.

He built it to be the WC, shower and kitchen for a neighbouring hut he rents out.

He said: “What I planned as a fairly basic hut soon became much more detailed purely through the sheer love of what I was creating.”

Heather Playfoot’s Four Generation Shed on her allotment in Horsham, West Sussex was built by four generations of her family, including her father, a retired engineer, and uses entirely reclaimed materials.

She said: “We used about 24 pallets in total. The corrugated tin roof sheets were bought from a reclamation site.

“When the sides and base were finished we took it apart and stacked it onto a trailer to bring to my allotment.”

Leianne Lockhart’s Chateau in Herne Bay, Kent, was built to champion recycling and sustainability, and to pass that passion on to the next generation.

She said: “My children, and I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed learning about how to work with wood, and teaching them that nothing should be thrown away because it can always be used, also the eco friendly side of things.”

The public vote closes on 2 August.