The Story of Ferryside Men’s Shed
From an idea in 2013 to a thriving part of our community
Ferryside Men’s Shed began with a simple idea: to create a welcoming place where local people could meet, make things, share skills and enjoy one another’s company.
The story began in 2013, when local people were invited to a meeting at the former Ferryside Education Centre to discuss establishing a Men’s Shed in the village. An announcement from September 2013 records the meeting for 16 September 2013 and explains that the proposed Shed would occupy part of one of the site’s former RAF huts. Early ideas included woodworking, boat building, beehive construction and mechanical repairs.
It was the beginning of something that would become an established part of community life in Ferryside.
🔨 The Shed Finds a Home
The idea quickly became a reality.
The history of Calon y Fferi Community Centre records that Ferryside Men’s Shed took over one of the old billet huts in 2014.
That makes the location particularly interesting, because the building had already had quite a history.
During the Second World War, the site at Ferryside was used by the RAF Air/Sea Rescue service. High-speed motor boats operated from the Ferryside foreshore to rescue airmen shot down over the sea, while personnel were accommodated in billets alongside the main Carmarthen road. Rescue operations were relocated to Aberystwyth in 1942, but Ferryside continued as an RAF maintenance base, with the billets accommodating up to 120 men.
Many decades later, one of those former RAF huts would become home to Ferryside Men’s Shed.
🛠️ A Building With Community in Its DNA
After the war, the site continued to serve the community.
Dyfed County Council used the buildings for a variety of purposes, and the site developed into a Further Education Centre. The centre was officially opened in 1969 and provided classrooms, residential accommodation, a dining room and kitchen. Training courses, conferences and evening classes were held here over many years. The Further Education Centre eventually closed in 2009.
The Men’s Shed therefore became another chapter in a much longer tradition of learning, sharing skills and bringing people together on this site.
🐝 Growing Alongside Calon y Fferi
Another important chapter followed.
In late 2015, Ferryside Social Enterprise Group signed a 99-year lease with the Council to bring the former education centre buildings back into productive community use. Since then, the site has undergone substantial renovation and development and has evolved into today’s Calon y Fferi Community Centre
Ferryside Men’s Shed has been part of that journey.
From those early ambitions for woodworking, repairs, boat building and beehives, the Shed has developed as a place where people can make, repair, learn, share knowledge and, perhaps most importantly, enjoy one another’s company.
More Than a Workshop
The Men’s Shed movement may have inspired the original idea, but Ferryside has made the Shed its own.
Over the years, tools, projects and activities may change, but the basic idea remains remarkably simple:
people working alongside one another, sharing what they know and enjoying being together.
You don’t have to be a skilled craftsperson to belong here. You don’t even have to want to make something every time you visit.
Sometimes the most important piece of equipment in the Shed is the kettle.
👩🔧 A Shed for Everyone
Although we’re called Ferryside Men’s Shed, today women are very welcome to join us too.
We believe the things that make the Shed special, friendship, creativity, practical skills, learning and community, should be shared.
Experienced maker or complete beginner, man or woman, there is room around the workbench and space by the kettle.
Our Story Continues
From a meeting about an idea in 2013, to moving into one of Ferryside’s historic former RAF huts in 2014, Ferryside Men’s Shed has become part of the continuing story of Calon y Fferi and our village.
The Shed has a proud past, but we’re much more interested in what comes next.
New members.
New friendships.
New skills.
New projects.
And plenty more cups of tea.
Why not become part of the next chapter?
Men and women are welcome. No experience necessary.
Come along, meet us and see what the Shed is all about.
Ferryside Men’s Shed
Make • Mend • Learn • Laugh • Belong