I’m expanding what I post here on What’s the Pont. It’s all explained on the About page.

This is something under the SEEING category. Tin Sheds.

I have a deeply nostalgic feeling about Tin Sheds. When I was growing up they seemed to be everywhere in South Wales. Buildings made out of corrugated iron, relatively cheap and easy to put up and used for a huge number of purposes. Although a lot of them were places of worship – Chapels.

The first ‘proper’ (not a prefab) house I lived in was on the site of a demolished Tin Shed Chapel (Corrugated Methodist), which might explain a lot.

Anyway, please enjoy some pictures of Tin Sheds that have mostly disappeared from the Welsh landscape. I’ll add more as I encounter them.

This is why I take pictures of Tin Sheds.

To quote Donkey from Shrek, like “celebrity marriages, they just don’t last”.

That’s a bit harsh, they will last for a decent amount of time if properly cared for, have a look at the pictures below of a few from the Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagans near Cardiff.

Here are a few pictures of a decaying tin shed I walk past with the dog. I can only get a half decent picture of it during the winter when the vegetation has died back.

And every year it’s a bit more decayed and there is less of it. But I still draws me towards it in ‘allure of ruins’ sort of way.

A ‘proper’ Shepherd’s / Workmen’s mobile Tin Hut.

In a world full of refurbishments and restorations, it’s good to encounter an authentic original.

Dented, rusty, fully of patina (apologies I’ve slipped into Drew of Salvage Hunters off the Telly speak).

But this one got my ‘shed love’ going again.

I’m not going to say exactly where it is other than it’s in a small forest near Aberystwyth. If you need to see it, you will find it… Gorgeous!

Tinshed Bach. Behind the Blacksmiths, St Fagans Museum. I’m not the sort of person who generally says ‘cute’. But, I’ll make an exception for this lovely little tin shed. It’s even got a smiley face if you look close enough. Cute!

R.L.Jones and Sons Builders (also used to be an Undertakers) Bleanau Ffestiniog. An icon of Tin Sheds. My images, Feb 2024

Bonus Painter Shed next to the main R.L.Jones Builders shed.

Ganllwyd Village Hall, Gwynedd. On the A470 with convenient parking at a National Trust site opposite. It’s on the Coflein database of historic sites in Wales. My images. Feb 2024

Llanbadoc Parish Hall, nr Usk Rugby Club, Monmouthrshire. (pic April 2024). Thanks to @Smillie_Ella on Twitter who pointed me in the direction of the Red Shed, Usk.

Obviously its green, but it used to be red. In the 1970’s the local council painted it green to stop people calling it the Red Shed – Llanbadog Parish Hall might seem a bit grander and more suitable. But (apparently) everyone still calls it the Red Shed. There’s a bus stop right outside if you fancy a visit.

I particularly like the ‘extension on the extension’ approach at they rear. Looks like toilets might have been an afterthought.

I do love the bent tin sheet to form a weatherproof corner.

Extensions on the extension…

Final pic from Llanbadoc Parish Hall / The Red Shed. A treat for the patina / peeling paint enthusiasts. Lovely!

TODAY I WANT THE SKY shed. From Offa’s Dyke path Monmouthshire. Hatterall Hill Near Pentywn Iron Age Hill Fort. My image taken Sept 2019. Barely visible is part of the Edward Thomas poem, The Lofty Sky.

Chicken Shed / Gaz Truck Hybrid. Not strictly a shed or in Wales, but I like it. My picture, taken April 2016. Somewhere south of Lake Ohrid / Pogradec, Albania. Soviet Gaz Trucks have been used for a multitude things, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAZ-51

Tin Tabernacle, Mill Street, Tonyrefail. (February 2024) The story of how Tin Chapels disappeared from Welsh communities is wrapped up here. Up for sale, with planning permission. Chapel off to the scrap heap… you can buy it on Rightmove.

Capel y Ffin, Barn/Livestock Shelter. (March 2024) On the road down from Twmpa, Black Mountains. Not all tin sheds are things of great architectural note. There’s a lot going on here. Built from reclaimed materials, possibly an Anderson Shelter, in the process of now being reclaimed by a hedge. Yes, it is snowing.

Bog Standard Tin Garage, Llanharry, South Wales (April 2024) There used to be dozens of these in every village years ago. Mostly all gone. Low cost, often self build, utilitarian – they do the job of storing things (often a car) securely. Now almost gone.

Tin Shed Brutalism (or just plain ugly?) I have said before that not all tin sheds are things of beauty.

This one won’t win any prizes for stunning architecture, but it does a job. Storing scaffolding materials, Bridgend Industrial Estate (February 2024).

Carmel (English Congregational Church). Trebanog Road, Trebanog, Rhondda.

This is why I have days off from work. To drive around the local area looking for beauties like this. And getting quizzical looks from the locals as I take photos.

It’s about 8 miles from home, I’ve gone past it 100s of times and never noticed it until yesterday.

You can’t make a statement like ‘Remembering Mount Zion English Baptist Church’ and not expecting someone (me) to wonder, ‘what happened?‘

Not surprisingly, it was another Tin Tabernacle that was just down the street. Demolished in 2009 and a house built on the site. Probably the fate of Carmel, which is the point of taking these pictures, and maybe why it called out to me yesterday…