Hedgehogs live in shed of the year
A hedgehog hospital in Shropshire has been crowned a shed of the year in a national competition.
The Pricklebums hedgehog rescue santuary in Ludlow is run by Ailie Hill and has enough room to house 22 of the little creatures.
It beat off 32 other sheds in the category for Unexpected sheds and now goes through to the overall final.
Competition founder Andrew Wilcox said: "Every year I am overwhelmed with the nation's love of sheds and how they really get behind this celebration of British eccentricity."
The hedgehog hospital at Pipe Aston has been nicknamed the Tardis, after the police box from Doctor Who, because it seems bigger on the inside than on the outside.
The old garden summer house contains everything needed for housing sick, injured or orphaned wild British hedgehogs during their treatment and rehabilitation.
All materials used to create the hospital were bought as seconds, from charity shops, are recycled or were donated to the rescue centre.
The shed was announced as a category winner in the Cuprinol Shed of the Year on Sunday night by George Clarke on Channel 4’s hit series ‘Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year’.
Ailie Hill said: “The other sheds in this year’s competition are amazing and I have definitely been inspired by the wonderful variety of uses. To be able to showcase my shed and our hedgehog hospital has been such an amazing opportunity and to be crowned a category winner is something I never expected.”
The overall winner will be decided by a panel of shed experts including the founder of the competition Uncle Wilco (Andrew Wilcox), last year’s winner Walter Micklethwaite, George Clarke and his expert team; craftsman William Hardie, architect Laura Clark and industrial designer Max McMurdo.
The winner will receive £1,000 courtesy of sponsors Cuprinol along with a wooden plaque, £100 worth of Cuprinol products and a giant crown for their shed.
For more information on Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2017, visit: http://www.readersheds.co.uk/index.cfm.
