WATCH: Pint-size pub created in Staffordshire back garden shed
When Steve Worrallo fancies a pint at his local, he only has to open the back door and step into his garden shed.
The father-of-two cleared it of lawnmower and hedge clippers eight years ago and set about transforming it into a pint-sized pub, complete with bar, snug and lounge.
His amazing 12ftx 16ft shed in Cannock – he added an extension in the last year – is filled with pub memorabilia, including original beer pumps and 1,300 beer mats which decorate the walls.
Now he is hoping his replica taproom will win the coveted title of Pub Shed of the Year 2015.
For authenticity, Steve has added mock-Tudor beams on the ceiling, brasses, high stools along the bar and a disco-style mirror ball for party nights, while his brother's cribbage trophies are also on display – just like your average local.
In case there's any doubt where this pub is, a hand-painted welcome over the bar reads: 'It's good here ay it.'
In fact the only thing here that you would not find inside a pub these days is ashtrays, and 20-a-day man Steve delights in being able to have a cigarette in his version of paradise.
"It really is like heaven to me," said the 64-year-old. "I come in here every day and I always find something else that needs doing. I'll never finish it – it's my hobby."
The former foundry worker started his labour of love after getting divorced and being made redundant from Barton Aluminium in Birchills, Walsall, when the firm closed.
"It's something I always wanted to do but never had the time. When I lost my job, I got another at Sainsbury's, loading the wagons at night, but that came to an end, too, and I thought now's the time to start on the shed.
"I'd never have been able to do if I was still married."
His two brothers, John, aged 68, from Bloxwich, and Brian, 64, who visits from Bentley, come over to play cards in the 'lounge'.
Amazingly Steve's den has cost him just the price of the wood, with people only too happy to help him in his quest.
The black-speckled carpet in the bar was donated by Bar 77 in Cannock, while The Alma in Birchills, and The White Hart and Crystal Fountain in Cannock gave him the hand pumps.
Friends and neighbours have joined in the project, contributing items such as signs and a closing-time bell.
