Royal Navy veteran wins 'Pub Shed of the Year' competition with back garden creation

A miniature pub built in a back garden using entirely recycled materials has been crowned Britain's best Pub Shed of the Year.

The pub, named 'The Dog & Ball', took more than a year to build and features its own dart board, wooden décor, country pub-style seating and its own outdoor beer garden and decking area.

Owner John Simmons, 50, built the shed in his garden in Portsmouth, Hampshire, single-handedly, sourcing reclaimed material from salvage yards and a Facebook page for pub shed enthusiasts.

He cut, sanded and fixed every timber and fitting himself, using an impressive 4,500 screws in the process.

His efforts have now been recognised after the father-of-three beat off competition from more than a thousand entries to be named the owner of Britain's best Pub Shed 2022.

Read more: Drunk driver back in prison after killing care worker in second fatal crash

The safety management consultant said he started the project so he could create a 'haven at home' that was cheaper than the pub.

Wife Anita, 49, put the finishing touches on his creation and the couple named it the Dog & Ball after their seven-year-old Labradoodle Bertie.

Simmons said: “I started building it last year and wanted to have it completed this summer for my 50th birthday. Sourcing the reclaimed material took the biggest chunk of time.

"I am an avid DIY-er and love a project. Lots of people had been doing this sort of thing over lockdown so I took inspiration from that, and I wanted a haven at home that was cheaper than the pub.

"It’s somewhere I can go and enjoy being with my friends and family, which was really the whole purpose.

"It cost about four figures, which is much cheaper than it would have been had I done a proper build and had to go to shops for the materials."

John, who was in the Royal Navy for 22 years, said his favourite part of the pub are some oak beams salvaged from an old dock yard building he used to work in.

He said: "Doing it all from salvage was of course a challenge — thank goodness for FB marketplace, advice from the fantastic members of the GSPN UK Facebook page and a very understanding wife who I dragged around local reclaim yards sifting through old timbers.

"With the exception of the main roof joists, every other part of the build is made from reclaim, re-used or recycled timber and materials.

"Each piece has a different story, from the bar ironmongery that belonged to my late father-in-law from his days as an RAF engineer, to the main oak upright timbers."

The Dog & Ball beat off two other finalists - a mini countryside-style pub called The Tiger in Somerset, and nightclub-themed bar The Stagger Inn in Manchester.

All are part of a recent trend for back garden pubs, whose popularity exploded during the Covid pandemic, with more than two million now believed to exist in Britain.

With their popularity likely to continue due to the cost of living crisis, a national competition was set up by Two Fat Blokes bar signs, Pub Shed Radio and the Facebook group Garden Shed Pubs & Nightclubs, with the winner announced live on Pub Shed Radio on Saturday (12 November).

Ashley Turner, owner of Two Fat Blokes Bar Signs, said: "The quality of bars and diversity of the entries has been phenomenal.

"We ran the competition to showcase the amazing community of pub sheds in the UK.

"The community has exploded during the pandemic and now with the cost of a pint heading north of £6 the trend looks set to continue.

"The Dog & Ball is a perfect example of an amazing pub shed and deserved to win with his amazing hand-built pub."

Tommy Funka, who runs Pub Shed Radio added: “Pub Shed of the year has been a great way for the pub shed community to come together and celebrate the growing army of back garden boozers".