Writing studio

The past 12 months has taught me a lot of different things, and one thing that’s really stuck with me is just how small our world is. Of course, during a global pandemic, that’s often not a good thing – the UK variant seems to have made its way all over the world very, very quickly.

But the other day I had such a surprising moment, which was very much the opposite.

In 2020, we had a beautiful calendar in the office, created by the one and only Tracey Elliot-Reep. Tracey’s renowned for her beautiful photographs of Dartmoor, and it really did brighten up our days last spring, looking at our (empty) calendar and seeing some truly spectacular, natural Devonian scenery.

In fact, we liked it so much that I wanted to get a new one for John in 2021.

I popped online to order it, and it arrived a couple of days later.

And lo and behold, there was a note from Tracey herself, explaining that not only had she heard of Shields Buildings, but she’d also written five of her books in a building made by us! Granted, I know the odds aren’t that extreme given that we’re both in this neck of the woods, but it was just one of the moments when I recognised the interconnectedness of everything in a thoroughly positive light.

And – of course – it gives us great pleasure that one of our timber garden buildings has played a part in creating some lovley children's books with beautiful photos and illustrations.

In many ways, that’s what we long for when we install our studios and workshops and go on our merry way – for our customers to do fulfilling things in them, to enjoy themselves and create. We’re just delighted that Tracey (or the person who owned her house before her!) is one of those.

Things are still steadily continuing here, so if you have got a project you want to discuss, just let us know, we’ll be happy to help.