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Richard Lee - Handcrafted shepherd's huts
Plankbridge - Making beauty that lasts
Richard Lee, along with co-founder Jane Dennison, makes handcrafted shepherd’s huts, rooted in Shaker values and British craft tradition, creating enduring structures that feel both personal and timeless.
What inspires the way I work
I do often think of some of the famous Shaker quotes, such as “Do your work as if you have a thousand years to live, and as if you were to die tomorrow.” I have a lot of respect for genuine Shaker heritage, and the Arts and Crafts movement is a strong influence. And a line from a poem — “…and left upon your bench no less than that day’s gain in comeliness” — also comes to mind.
How I found my craft
My first job, working on a 100-acre lake in the Cotswolds, really steered my desire to make things. I didn’t know quite what to make back then, but I think the range of projects — from bridges and sluice gates to log cabins and decks — sowed the seed.
I then went on to international furniture designer John Makepeace’s quirky Hooke Park College, which I saw as some kind of monastery to crafts in misty woodlands on a West Dorset hillside, and that steered the wood-based entrepreneur side of things.
What we make and how
We create structures on wheels that are based on Victorian shepherd’s huts. They have evolved over the years into being longer and wider, and they provide comfortable living space for work and play. The process is to engage in a friendly way with customers from the outset, and design and make what they need with unrivalled detailing and quality.
The joy of seeing it come to life
We have been doing this for many years, which is a good thing – hutmaking as a craft is no different from a luthier who spends his working life making stringed instruments, or the niche craftsperson making leather goods or Windsor chairs, or the artist honing their skills over a lifetime. It is that longevity of doing one thing really well that inspires me most.
I still get a thrill from seeing a hut rise from our framing bench which, a few weeks earlier, came to life as a pen and ink sketch in front of a customer. They may have travelled a long distance to see us, after months or years of engagement with our brand, and I fully appreciate that. They have expectation and the hut of their dreams in their mind, and it’s our job to fulfil it. You can’t beat that really.
It is that longevity of doing one thing really well that inspires me most.
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