Guest Post by Alex Johnson from Shedworking.

If you want to create, it’s easier if you have a shedlike atmosphere in which to experiment. William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson created their first motorcycle in a backyard shed. Harry Ramsden began his fish and chip empire in a hut in Guiseley, near Leeds. Technology giant HP began from a garage which is now California Historic Landmark No. 976, Birthplace of Silicon Valley (now preserved at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto). Herbert Frood designed ‘brake shoes’ for cart wheels and tanks in his shed at Combs in the Peak District. Walt Disney’s first studio was in a garage at his uncle Robert’s house in Los Angeles, saved from demolition in 1984 and moved to the Stanley Ranch Museum.

Indeed, why limit yourself to just one? Fuzzy Felt was invented by Lois Allan in one of her various sheds at her Buckinghamshire home and sculptor Henry Moore had several shed studios, none of them very showy, at his home in Perry Green which is now open to the public. They were converted from former sheds, stables and in one case a village shop, but all had good light and were fit for purpose, including good views of sheep. According to the Henry Moore Foundation, his sheds were “at the heart of the creative process, a place Moore could come to think, to work, and to get away from the activities and distractions elsewhere…”.

That there are no rules in a shed is a truth recognised by The MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, USA, which offers writers, artists and composers small studios in which to work for up to eight weeks. The colony, which celebrated its centenary in 2007, has 32 of these shedworking atmospheres dotted around its 450 acres of woodland and fields. Each one is fully, though not excessively, furnished with the tools of the trade – pianos for composers, writing tables for writers, natural and full-spectrum lighting for artists - but there are no phones and messages are delivered only in case of emergency. Among those who have made use of the facilities here are Leonard Bernstein, who completed his seminal work Mass there, Aaron Copeland, Studs Terkel, Barbara Tuchman, and Alice Walker.

Next week: a look at garden office designs

For a copy of The Shed magazine, please email Alex at alex@splashmedia.co.uk or go to Shedworking. for daily updates