The word ‘shed' seems to conjure up many memories for people. Many people associate sheds with their dads'; a place for their dad to escape the washing-up duties, or to have some peace and quiet from the mother-in-law. It was a bolthole, a place of sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the home. Dads' were always pottering about in the shed doing very important jobs; like sampling the home brew or re-arranging their tools! Some dads' had kitted out their shed, similar to the one on Eastenders – a meeting place for the men to drink, chat, and put the world to rights, or to sit quietly by themselves, in a battered armchair, and contemplate life.

Sheds can conjure up such a passion in some people, that there are websites devoted to fans of sheds from across the world. Members can put on a photo of their shed, with different views, and written information is added. For example: type – ‘unique', features – ‘hand built by my son, started life as a general garden shed. Now contains a library of car magazines, a recliner and small fridge'. Additional features – ‘Our shed contains a wood burner and can seat up to ten people. Everyone welcome.' Sheddies, i.e. shed fans, can post comments about the pictured shed. Such comments include, ‘shedtastic' from people naming themselves, ‘shed luver, shedster or shedman. For shed fans that want a blow-by-blow account of how someone is building their shed, there are blogs devoted to the adventures of shed building.

An author has released a book about men and their love of sheds. He explained why sheds fascinate men, and it became a best seller. He is currently writing another book about sheds and he is looking for people who have a story to tell about their shed.

However, the world of shed's are changing – no longer are sheds the domain of men. Women are fighting back. The subject of women and sheds was discussed on ‘Women's Hour,' Radio 4, a few years ago and according to a recent survey, ‘40% of women considered their sheds to be an important private space compared with only 38% of men.' It would appear, because women lead an increasingly hectic lifestyle, they have discovered the sanctuary of the shed. But there seems to be a big difference to what men do in their shed and what women do. Men use their shed-time as a time to do ‘not-a-lot' – a place where the world stops still for a while. Whereas, women tend to use their shed-time as place for ‘getting-things-done.'

Although men may not like their shed-space being taken over by women, women have done men a big favour. Until a few years ago, the shed-industry was far from healthy. Owning a shed, and admitting to enjoying time in the shed, was seen as ‘uncool' – some would say it was in the same league as being a trainspotter and wearing an anorak! But now sheds are back in vogue. Sales have increased by 40%, which means more choice for the consumer; this can include sheds with polished wooden floors and suede-look walls. And according to the British Institute of Surveyors, a good shed can add about 5% to the value of a property.

In recent years, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London held an exhibition of customised sheds by Tracy Emin and Sarah Staton. English Heritage even has a record of sheds that are of ‘special interest' and some of the sheds are listed buildings.

As you can tell, there is more to the subject of sheds then first meets the eye.