The home of the Shrewsbury Men’s Shed The West Midland Showground, is a 100 acre site. It hosts The County Show, the Shrewsbury Folk Festival and other events that attract many tens of thousands of visitors and engage many local community groups.

It is also a camping and caravan site, the largest provider of tourist accommodation in Shropshire and the fifth biggest in the U.K.

However, despite being 150 years old and just across the Severn from the historic town centre, there is no bridge or ferry linking the two. Anyone on the Showground wanting to access the town is faced with a long walk. The Showground misses out on visitors who want to visit the town and it’s 600 listed buildings; whilst the town misses out on the spending power of well-off tourists, just across the river, but unconnected.

To solve the problem, we proposed a seasonal Ferry Service across the Severn. The idea was seized upon by Councillors and Shrewsbury Men’s Shed had a quotation accepted to set up the infrastructure needed. The work included building restoration/repurposing, tree felling, landscaping, pontoons, gangways, pilings driven into the river bed, risk assessments and method statements, partner organisations found and legal consents obtained from landowners and the Environment Agency.

We came in on time and on budget. The Ferry will have a full schedule from the Spring; by which point the Men’s Shed will have added a riverside cafe/bar/restaurant to the Showground side with extensive lawns and seating. The Town Council were sufficiently impressed by the positive impact of the Shed that, from fourteen Charities and Community Groups nominated, our Chairman won the Mayor of Shrewsbury’s Award for Services to the Community.