A unique, heritage-based Men’s Shed that uses traditional Welsh craft skills to bring men together for friendship, support and learning
The Men’s Shed initiative is about bringing like-minded men together, sharing skills, experiences, worries, concerns and having fun.
The Bailey Hill Men’s Shed in Mold, Flintshire has been running since 2023 and is unique in being heritage-based, situated completely outdoors in the earthworks of a motte and bailey castle. We use the wood from trees on the site and keep alive traditional Welsh skills such as stick-chair making.
The Shed is open to all men from 18 to 90+, dependent only on whether mobility levels allow them to access the medieval ditch where it is located.
The importance of heritage skills linked to the museum collection lies at the very heart of our activities. The “shedders” meet weekly. Those attending first make a wooden maul (hammer), followed by a three-legged drawhorse vice bench before moving onto a Welsh stick chair. The men use traditional hand tools and long-established techniques, all facilitated by a skilled tutor.
In feedback, 100% of our participants highlighted the friendship, support and camaraderie associated with attending the sessions, alongside the learning of new skills. The men have all noted increased self-esteem, purpose, and emotional resilience. The Shed has created a strong support network, helping to reduce feelings of isolation and promoting conversations. For some, it is their only reason to leave the house.
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Our success has brought its own challenges. The Shed is currently wholly reliant on external funding. Very few of the members want to leave, which has resulted in a long, static waiting list. There is growing demand for a Shed for women. We are also regularly approached to take short-term placements of young people.
Solutions include trialling shorter, four- to six-month sessions for both men and women with intergenerational opportunities allowing more people to participate. We also aim to help the existing shedders become less funding reliant and create a sustainable future. To find out more, please watch our video: In their own words – Reflections on The Bailey Hill Project.
“I heard about the Men’s Shed a couple of weeks after it started. My wife had passed away not long before and I found a lot of our friends were actually her friends and there was a link broken; so I found a link through meeting other chaps in the Men’s Shed and it was a revelation.”