Norton Men's Shed

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Norton Men's Shed A place to be, but not be alone. Activities to do solo or with others. People not alike but who like each other. Creative and calming.

Hi Norton Shedders and Shed followers too.Graham has been at sea but returning very shortly now, to Norton. There is no ...
09/10/2026

Hi Norton Shedders and Shed followers too.

Graham has been at sea but returning very shortly now, to Norton. There is no place like home.

Today we experienced an earthquake whilst transiting the Panama Canal. The ship rocked unaccountably. Thought we had touched the bottom but no, it was an earthquake tremor. Small, but noticeable.

I've missed you all. Cruise ships are full of lonely people, especially men who do not seem to be able to occupy themselves as well as women do. We've made a few friends out of the 2000 passengers and Graham has been busy on his keyboard. Computer, this is, not the musical type.

Communication has not been easy, but it looks like Port Clarence is fully approved now and the Social Prescribing Link Workers are ready to join in. The week after next is going to be a busy and interesting one we hope.

Alongside that there has been work going on in collaboration with Macmillan and the NHS on concerning men's health screening. It is a "hobby" project that is taking some excellent printed material about men's health and creating audio visual formats for Sheds, Macmillan Cancer Support centre in North Tees and for awareness locally.

There has also been discussion with a potential local funder about new opportunities and also with Macmillan about cancer awareness promotion. All this fits well with the evolving 10 year Neighbourhood Health programme initiative.

Here on board I've been talking Sheds with two couples. One in particular has sold their house and invested in two properties - one a church building they are already using for work with people from a poor neighbourhood and the other a plot with two sheds on it but only a power supply. They are already working on sanitation and discovering that others are willing to give time to it also. There are some other links too.

There has been good communication with Shedder Ron who is starting various training sessions on making craft items, including use of the laser cutter. Below are some photos he sent to cheer me up!

We do workshop activities with wood, digital technologies, model making and art for men's wellbeing by distraction. Taki...
23/09/2026

We do workshop activities with wood, digital technologies, model making and art for men's wellbeing by distraction. Taking men's minds off problems for a while.

We don't do line dancing (we don't have the space or the rhythm!).

However, others will be. Later in October Kicking Cancer Line Dance will launch in Billingham. Thanks to a notable collaboration of stakeholders shown on the poster fostered by Deb Charlesworth of Norton and Billingham PCN, delivered through Hope Cancer Support and Hayley's Dance Club and supported by Northern Cancer Voices and Tees Valley Sport.

It is an example of what can be achieved by collaboration on the neighbourhood scale.

The people that will make this happen, are the people who attend and finf benefit from being with others who share something in common. Much the same as with us.

We are pretty much young men in old men's boots. We do not feel the age that the calendar tells us.We are kept young in ...
19/09/2026

We are pretty much young men in old men's boots. We do not feel the age that the calendar tells us.

We are kept young in spirit by the young in age, our grandchildren. 'Twas ever thus, generation to generation. We passed attitudes and skills on to our children and try to do the same for the next generation on.

However, life and our social/work environment seems to have accelerated with change. Remember the musical "Stop the World I Want to Get Off?".

Well, we get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from being with others, as well as family. That must be preserved despite AI!

So, a few Shedders are looking at young people, because we were them once. We want to share some of us with them.

In Port Clarence a few weeks ago, we spoke about the new PC Shed and premises that were to host it. The conversation shifted to young people of secondary school age. How they also needed help and things to do.

We cannor run youth clubs at our age. Puff, puff. But maybe we could help them and others in Stockton with their transition from school to eventual work. Helping to prepare and equip them in practical ways.

We heard that the renewed work experience programme introduced last year for young people was being implemented again in schools as we write.

The link below is to a scheme originally developed to help in Whitby until it was discovered that the previous mandatory work experience placement requirement had effectively been discontinued. No longer part of school life growing up.

Well it is back now as from this year.

And the idea is back from Whitby for simulated work experience as as a possible option for some pupils.

There is also a proposal for work with 17 - 24 year olds in a slightly different form.

You can read about these in a discussion document on the Norton Men's Shed website that can be directly accessed here https://normens.org.uk/?p=6339

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This is a link to an aeroplane being tested. This is not our WW1 Sopwith Pup under advanced construction for Saturday November 7Th Remembrance Service for youngsters at Norton Sports Charity.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BnEbDzXtk/

Thinking about the variety there is of things to do at Norton Shed.Here are a few snaps from the past week. just to say...
17/09/2026

Thinking about the variety there is of things to do at Norton Shed.

Here are a few snaps from the past week. just to say that our Walter is against the wall just to give scale to the giraffe. Shedder John who is creating a planter (we think) is responsible for the animal. Head shown below.

We intend to have a presence at Norton Green Market in November, sharing our event shelter with the U3A Ukulele Band in the event there is rain or snow. Can you remember them?

PS. For Shedders. Our Aussie cousins have a strong emphasis on men's health. There is even a doctor (retired?) who podcasts on the topic of Sheds positive impact on men's wellbeing.

This is the link from a newsletter https://youtu.be/vHUE_DKYxdM?is=qjsXZ59391ZWzcV4

The end of the beginning is on our mind. The end of a 15 month journey about establishing new Men's Sheds in Stockton. ...
16/09/2026

The end of the beginning is on our mind.

The end of a 15 month journey about establishing new Men's Sheds in Stockton. Norton Shed knows the good that Sheds can be for men's wellbeing. Norton Shed was itself the result of planting a new Shed from 5 years of Sheds in Whitby district.

In early 2025 we launched an appeal on Norton Village FB for anyone interested in having support to start a Men's Shed. Up popped Portrack Baptist Community Church and by Easter 2026 it opened as a "toddler" (Sheds grow up!)

Separately, the Norton and Billingham NHS Link Workers we work with suggested Port Clarence as a somewhat isolated locality that lacked support for socially isolated men. More than a year on and through efforts by others as well as Norton Shed, we are moving into premises in the heart of Port Clarence made available by Stockton Borough Council.

It is more than a Shed, it represents an opportunity to support the wider community. The Primary Care Link Workers will be there on one morning using a room at the Shed as a meeting place for consultations. The Shed will be open on another morning too.

There has been financial support from Stockton Borough Council for early stage operation, from the Ballinger Trust for core start up costs over the first 6 months or so and this week from Billingham Town Council. We thank all 3 because money is tight all round.

We appreciate the encouragement that all 3 have given.

We will now be moving in equipment we have been collecting - not new, but serviceable - and we will be on the cadge locally too for probably furniture items.

This is not Norton planting a Shed, but Norton Shed helping Port Clarence to start a Shed of it's own and maybe help other initiatives get started.

A first job is to tidy up the courtyard at the premises and to look at repairs needed to benches there. We'll be consulting with Billingham Horticultural Society over ideas for a growing project starting early Spring. We have just made an application for funding to cover that and some creative art too that can be made in the Shed.

So, we' are at the end of the beginning of The PC Shed and at the start of a bit of adventure . . . .

If you are a man who feels at a bit of a loss in the Clarences or wider, think about joining in. It is far from being a woodwork club. It is about people and mateship.

There's now a Shed to make.

This is for those Norton Shedders following our page, and for Following Friends.These are busy and exciting tim...
12/09/2026

This is for those Norton Shedders following our page, and for Following Friends.

These are busy and exciting times. Two years ago, a strategy started of meeting other community builders in the Norton catchment. We have made many friendships in our joint work which are bearing fruit in wider Stockton too.

First, so it gets noted, we have a space with a difference at November's Green Market (Sat. 14th) to display, sell and take orders for some of the attractive stuff we produce. We may put some of it on this page and broadcast it to Norton Village FB. 8 weeks to gather stock.

The unusual is that we will be helping the organisers by sharing our event shelter some of the time with the Ukulele Band if it is wet! Maybe we can have our trailer at the back as well with some of our wares inside and a display of Shed life.

What else? We are on the cusp of kicking off some Shed activity in Port Clarence. This week we hope or it might need to go back in time to mid October. It is a very good venue with considerable
potential. We will be working with our social prescribing link workers (we are sorting broadband for the PC Shed and their use). We have some funding and this Tuesday evening we are attending a meeting regarding another grant. There is a third going in too.

Then the Common Ground Eco Hub is starting up in earnest. It is using the Friends Meeting House across Norton Green. We are giving a little help on decoration. In October we will be helping launch "Mainly Men", a men's meeting based on similar principles to the Shed but without the environment. Probably like our Wednesdays. We may have a hand occasionally in a Repair Cafe,

Work with Macmillan and the NHS is taking an interesting turn on the cancer awareness and cancer journey fronts. Working with Rebecca and Andrea as before in orchestration but now adding the Cancer Care Unit at North Tees and the NHS Lung Cancer screening awareness unit. Looking at ways to assist with suitably messaging audiences different audiences, including Sheds. Some digital in this.

Then over winter we are considering some training courses for Shedders led by Shedders. Sharing skills. The pen making introduced by Phil spread like wildfire. Why not some of the work that Ron has been introducing to Ray. Training would be ouside of normal Shed hours probably. We do not want to lose the social camaraderie that goes on.

We have some Shedders who are considerably health challenged. Others who are joint and age challenged. We are endeavouring to have diverse activities that can be undertaken seated.

We will soon be sporting name badges courtesy of Ron and some for Shed Managers (more on that later).

We are hoping to take a display object from the WW1 series to two schools in the second half of October. Tomo Thompson has agreed to provide a veteran to talk to the children. Who knows, he might parachute in!

This year's new set piece WW1 Sopwith Pup is coming together. It is roughly half scale but still an impressive size.

The garden railway is close to being finished (another week or so).

That's it. An account of what we are up to. Now, what photos to put against it?

Well, just one. This is the old Costa Coffee in Norton. The first meetings of the Norton Men's Shed. Graham with Dave T. There was a third person outside Costa Coffee, Gary. He failed to come in! Gary was a painter/decorator and he provided the expertise for us to decorate the Cricket Club changing rooms (stirring paint). On the same date Claire Walker (social prescribing link worker) met "Director" Dave of Norton Sports Charity.

From a very tiny seed our Shed has grown.

This is Wednesday and Thursday at Norton Men's Shed.A Pie Party that seemed to go down well on Thursday. Being browned o...
10/09/2026

This is Wednesday and Thursday at Norton Men's Shed.

A Pie Party that seemed to go down well on Thursday. Being browned off is good for pies but not so good for Shedders!

Steve finished his elephant on Thursday too and he has pictures of Medusa the snake-haired woman and the Titanic to paint by number. John the seems to be hiding behind a mask which is the face to be attached to the giraffe's neck on the front of a planter.

Then Les was busy (not in this photo though!) with Walter, Dennis, Roy and Martin across the road, working on the train track. Richie was busy making a 4 foot high # (hashtag symbol) to complete the set of giant letters for Great Ayton Scouts.

Graham took a call on Thursday about the promotion of lung cancer screening in anybody who smokes or has smoked in the past which followed a meeting on Tuesday with the Macmillan Cancer Care advisory unit at North Tees Hospital.

Today a bid was written for some funding for Port Clarence Shed, specifically for renovating the inner quadrangle.

Friday tomorrow, and the WW1 Sopwith Pup biplane should move further towards take-off!

No need for boredom at Norton Shed.

https://vimeo.com/reddoorfilmandmedia/review/1115772221/a8abd91c65

PS. Graham bought a 3D handheld scanner more than 2 years ago and had mixed success/failure with it. Recently he picked it up again and used a Cameroonian death mask as a patient head. Well, see how the scanner and 3D printer handled the session in the final photo.

No man is an island and on our mind is that it is the same for a Shed! In the land of Oz, where Sheds were invented and ...
07/09/2026

No man is an island and on our mind is that it is the same for a Shed!

In the land of Oz, where Sheds were invented and became an active, integral part of most communities, Shed premises are often hubs in their own right, hosting other organisations. They are a bit like Norton Sports complex in fact.

Sheds serve their own purposes but also the communities they are centred in. They work with others, peer to peer, building up the feel of community. That is what Norton Shed tries to do. It is by working with others that opportunities pop up.

That is the case with the Friends Meeting House across Norton Green. Helen Deehan, known to many in Norton for her community commitment, first introduced us to the Friends building. She was doing a growing project there and one or two Shedders dug in shifting soil for raised beds.

The Friends meet there on a Sunday morning, but now the rest of the week will be used for community activities organised by various groups. A lease is being taken on to create the Common Ground Eco Hub. Eco because there is a green ethos to it, but also a common ground for people to meet. Monday mornings are to be open house for people to drop in and share informally.

The building needed some work to cure a damp problem in the older outer walls. That was done and after drying out, it has been decorating time.

This afternoon Graham and Martin joined in a working party to help finish the decoration of the main room, ready for the craft group that meets on a Tuesday morning.

Work is interesting (sometimes) but people are more interesting. As well as us, leading the charge was Helen from the Darlington Society of Friends, Bob who is deeply involved with U3A and a recently retired teacher with (presumably) time on her hands. Some great Shed-like camaraderie involved.

We intend to start a Mainly Men group there (chat, cuppas and hopefully some doing as it develops). Like the Shed, run by the mainly men who attend.

At a time when public spaces in localities are at a premium, this is surely a very welcome collaborative gesture.

The Shed will shortly be cleaning the carpets and there is decoration of internal woodwork to be continued.

Warning: there are some scary photos below šŸ˜€

Just thinking that sometimes we can be in a whirl of indecision about things. Frozen to the spot and unable to move to t...
06/09/2026

Just thinking that sometimes we can be in a whirl of indecision about things. Frozen to the spot and unable to move to the next handhold or foothold on the cliff face. Confidence gone. Momentum gone. Alone.

Graham received an email from North Yorkshire that contained the words that follow.

"If you need to start a new chapter in your life donā€™t wait for the page to turn itself!

It can feel like you are standing on the edge of something vast and unknown - in equal parts terrifying and full of possibility!

But a difficult season doesnā€™t define your entire story - itā€™s only one chapter. Keep turning the pages - thereā€™s still so much left to write!

Some chapters are sad, some happy and some exciting, but if you never turn the page you will never know what the next chapter has in store for you!

The email writer liked this:

How to start a new chapter in Life.
1. Let go of what no longer serves you.
2. Take one step at a time even when itā€™s hard.
3. Embrace discomfort: itā€™s where growth happens.
4. Trust the process, not just the outcome.
5. Every new chapter begins with a single choice.
6. Change begins when you decide to let it happen.
7. Focus on progress not perfection.
8. Sometimes the hardest step is the first one.
9. Donā€™t wait for the right moment-create it!
10. Small changes today lead to big results tomorrow."

A lot of sense in those 10 points worth pondering upon. A lot about steps, not leaps. a couple of "lets" that speaks of allowing things to change - which can be fearful. It speaks of endurance and looking forward.

The email writer added the following Bible verse summarising it all quite succinctly.

ā€œBut the LORD says, ā€œDo not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do.ā€ Isaiahā€¬ ā€­43ā€¬:18

Don't be locked to the past. Look for the green shoots of hope.

One of the great joys in the Shed is seeing the progress individual Shedders make when they look up and face forward in the company of others.

Today saw a visit to the The Last Post pub in Thornaby which houses a mass of military memorabilia across two floors. Unbelievable. Our mission was to enquire about landing wheels for the Sopwith Pup being constructed for November. We had been introduced to the pub by a lady who lives nearby from whom we secured a rear trailing wheel (from a kid's trike).

The landlady is committed to not only providing a museum but a home from home for veterans, A lot goes on there to rehabilitate military veterans. Adjusting to civvy life when service life is over is a tough call.

There was no joy with wheels but a message went out on their media grapevine. This all started just a few days ago on Norton Village FB page. Wonder what next?

Address

Norton Sports Charity Complex
Stockton-on-Tees
TS201PE

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 12:30pm
Tuesday 10am - 12:30pm
Wednesday 10am - 12:30pm
Thursday 10am - 12:30pm
Friday 10am - 12:30pm

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