Black Sheddie
Originally this was a wooden shed located at the foot of Harbour Street on the corner of the road heading down to the harbour and the road leading to the railway station. The shed housed a large set of scales used by the railway to monitor weights being transported by rail to and from Hopeman station. It was black in colour having been painted with ‘Bark’, a preservative used by fisherman to coat their hemp fishing lines and nets, and being at the bottom of Harbour Street overlooking the harbour, it was an ideal position for fishermen to meet for a chat and the shed provided protection from the wind and rain.
During the 1950s the wooden shed was replaced by part of what we have today as on the new building there was no enclosed area to the north and it only had open bench seating at either side. Further upgrades during the 1970s added the glassed in area on the north side but even with these upgrades it was still called the ‘Black Sheddie’ and continued as a gathering place for the fishermen of the village. Today (2015) they still gather two times per day for a blether and discuss various topics of interest from politics to sport and reminisce on by-gone times with the old collection of photographs they have on display. Many visitors have visited over the years, including royalty, and they are a great bunch of lads. We hope that the sheddie will continue to be used for many years to come.
As part of the 200 year collection of information we have a disc of tales from the men chatting in the sheddie during 2005