Bird Hide–The Wendy House

Even though we had said ‘Never again’ it didn’t take long before we got to think about a new bird hide and this time with a twist. To give it some protection from the inevitable fire we would put in in the water!

This of course gave raise to a whole new set of challenges. Not only just a hide, but also support in the water and a walkway connecting hide and shore.

Various outlandish ideas were considered such as a dome or an octagonal but in the end we decided to rebuild the one we had and duly some materials were bought. Out of the blue however a radio amateur friend, Colin, had heard about our ideas and promptly offered us his old Wendy House.

We didn’t have to think long and the various sections got delivered to our house. Pressure hose got applied and here’s our raw material for the hide on 17 November 2017

Of course we needed to apply our own ideas and added observation posts, slide windows, new doors etc. and soon the hide took shape inside my workshop.

It was quite a challenge to work out dimensions and compound angles. Slowly it got there and was ready for three coats of varnish expertly applied by Ellie. We even had a color scheme.

The old roof was rotten and broken so the roof section was completely rebuilt. The side windows were quite fun to make using curtain rollers as guides.

Finally, within the limited space, saloon type doors were more effective, so duly made.

Now with the hide nearly finished and assembled after three months of work it is time to turn our attention to the construction site.