Wild Hut 10

Location:

Govan, Glasgow South-Side

I decided to spend my next hutting adventure with my daughter Katie who is 6. If it takes around 5 hours to build a hut, I was fairly sure she would be bored and cold after 1 – especially on these dark winter evenings. It would also be an organisational struggle to get her home, showered and ready in time for school the next morning.

So I decided to venture out the evening before in an effort to prepare the materials and complete the main structural work. I donned my wellies and wandered out through a quiet industrial estate, on-route to the River Clyde like an urban farmer. As I approached a redundant patch of land on the river bank, I noticed a fox racing past at speed. It was bounding high through the tall grass like a drugged kangaroo. I thought it must have been confronted by a passing dog walker which sent him racing for his life through the undergrowth.

The Build:

The back corner of the waste-ground had a vast pile of cut stone – part of the old quay wall and cobbled riverbank. Without haste I began the heavy work of building the base-wall. I decided the hut should have a softer, more organic feel so arranged the wall in the shape of a horse-shoe, 7 courses high and about the size of a double bed. I knew that high walls need cross-bracing so built an inner and outer leaf, using some lager blocks to brace between them.

As I lifted a stone block a large frog jumped out from between my legs. In the darkness I just noticed a fast, darting movement and jumped backwards like a big girl. In fairness though, he was a frighteningly big frog, darting around in the darkness with threatening intent…big eyes etc.

On one hand…it seemed like a sensible and secure place for a frog to hide, but on the other hand frogs are so soft and delicate in contrast to these sharp heavy blocks. I was fairly sure that at one stage I was going to accidently squish it…so picked it up and placed it well out of harms way. No sooner had I returned than another big frog was flopping around across the stones. Comically - it leaped headlong into a stone block and halted in a daze (it was either running for its life or was as blind as a bat). I picked up this kamikaze-Kermit and popped it beside his girlfriend who could easily have been his dad for all I knew. I left them with strict instructions that I didn’t want to see any tadpoles out of season…

I came back the following evening with my daughter Katie to complete the roof part of the hut. She got back from school and was fairly excited to be heading out into the cold night for an adventure! We gathered sticks and soon arranged a ladder frame roof-structure across the top of the base-wall. We then added a thick layer of twigs at which point I decided to take her home for some supper and help her with her homework…which I had forgotten about...eek.

We came back out with 3 plastic bags and gathered up bundles of golden leaves which would give the roof a great waterproofing layer. We found 2 large sticks and propped the roof up at the front in order to achieve more head room and water run-off. I liked the flexible nature of a roof that could lift or drop depending on the weather or usage.

Roughing it:

We spread our gathered leaves across the roof and pushed them flat. Katie seemed fairly excited at the prospect of spending a night in the wilds of Glasgow, although it was hard to see her expression from the dim light of her Nintendo DS…We were soon snuggled up under layers of sleeping bags with the buzz of a nearby lamp post keeping us company.

The odd firework pierced the calm night as I drifted in and out of sleep. Katie fell asleep as soon as she felt the warmth of her sleeping bag. After only a short time I woke in absolute horror at the sound of someone whistling directly outside the hut. It was a sinister whistling sound as if someone was signalling to someone, but quiet as if they were really close. I lay fairly motionless for around 20 seconds hoping that the hut wall wouldn’t suddenly be kicked down on top of us.

To my relief and embarrassment, I had only days before received a new mobile phone, which has a SMS text notification sound of someone whistling! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the sound now. I soon fell asleep to the further sounds of Katie snoring and the continual buzz of electricity. We woke dry and warm at 7am and headed home to get cleaned up for school and a days work.

Katie was asked to stand up in class today and tell the other kids about sleeping out in a wild hut in the middle of Glasgow. I’m only glad she was talking to kids and not the social services…

Wild Hut 9

Location:
Pacific Quay, Govan, Glasgow



M-frame Hut

I always thought ripping a toe nail off would be a fairly negative experience and indeed it was. I was heartily pulling on my woolly socks in a rather brisk manner when I felt the toenail catch on the inside and felt subsequent blood. I had previously bruised this toe nail during a long distance hike through the Highlands but hadn’t expected to part company with it so soon. It detached from one side and was swinging rather freely. I tried to pull it off but it was still organically deep-rooted on one side. I managed to stop the bleeding, Sellotaped the nail down onto the nail-bed and popped on my wellies. I wasn’t going to let this minor inconvenience disrupt my enjoyment of the icy-cold rain and wind waiting for me outside!

I walked through the downpour to the Media District on Glasgow’s River Clyde where there is a large expanse of overgrown wasteland yet to be developed on its south bank. After passing a stream of office workers who were leaving for the night I made my way over to the darkest corner of the quay. The only good thing about torrential rain I discovered is that it makes for fewer awkward conversations as I’m usually the only person mindless enough to be wondering around in it. As darkness fell I noticed a huge pile of pruned branches which had been discarded over the fence from the neighbouring residential development. I decided to make the hut entirely out of this rotting pile of brown leaves, twigs and cut branches.

The Build:

As I was frequenting the newly branded “Media” District (home to BBC Scotland HQ, STV, rats and seagulls amongst others) I decided to build an “M” shape hut structure. I arranged some branches on the ground in two triangular forms and bound them tightly together. Within each triangle I placed further bracing which formed the “M” shape. It also gives the sleeping platform some mid-way support which is ideal as I usually fall right through the bed each time like a comedy sketch show.



I stripped the twigs from various branches to form cross bracing members which allowed the structure to be free-standing. I then lashed some further branches along the length of the roof like a large ladder-frame. All the discarded brown leaves and twigs were then used to tile to roof (much like a traditional debris shelter).

This was a particularly quick process and the roof was water-tight in around half an hour. One thing that wasn’t water tight was my wellies! The continual rain had streamed down my trousers creating vast cold reservoirs in each foot. I took them off and poured out the contents. It was a delicate business putting them back on though as the sticky-tape had become wobbly...much like my toe nail.

I just had the bed platform to create and set about finding springy bedding material. As I pulled hard on a branch I felt something sharp cut deep into the top of my index finger. The blood quickly mixed with the rain and ran down my hand for the next hour. The bleeding wouldn’t stop as the rain continually diluted the open wound. I started to wonder if I should start another project called “100 different ways to hurt yourself in the dark”. It might also be an slightly easier project! The hut was complete in around 3.5 hours, my quickest hut yet.

Roughing it:

I pulled my sleeping bag out and rolled it across the bed platform. It was obvious that winter would soon be on us and the summer had passed as quickly as it had arrived. It felt fairly cold although reasonable, the weather forecast suggested there would be lows of 8 degrees. I put my full weight on the sleeping platform and for the first time ever – no cracking, nothing breaking...all quiet below! The structure seemed to tighten under the weight and remained firm. I squirmed into my sleeping bag and looked out across the water as the bright lights on the BBC HQ performed a colour-changing sequence.

The hut’s roof material was also a minor success as the rain seemed unable to penetrate the dense canopy of dead leaf-litter. The rain stopped in the night and the temperature dropped. I watched people passing close by, and ambulances screeching past a lot more than usual. I thought it must be an strategic “arterial route” they use to-and-from the Southern General Hospital. Luckily that was my last boring thought for the evening and I fell asleep fairly quickly. I set my work alarm for half 7 and awoke to a still-calm morning. I gathered my things and made my way back through some deep puddles along the quay wall. Back home I used some “second-skin” liquid bandage for my cut finger which stung much like the original accident itself! Every time I return from a night of building huts my brain always feels refreshed, as if washed clean by the cool rain.