In the 21 years since it was launched, Gumtree has become a byword for bargains, flat-hunting and impulse purchases. The website, which started out 2000 as a community site to connect Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans who had just moved to London, lets users buy and sell anything from a mystery locked suitcase and an entire fruit and veg shop to second hand bikes and cats.
But for Edinburgh residents looking for an unusual addition to their garden (or very large living room), you can now snap up a vintage ski lift chair there from Seafield Shed Centre - assuming you can afford the £2,500 price tag.
“We’re probably selling it too cheaply,” centre manager Phillip Jameson confesses. “It’s a very interesting item, not something you see every day.”
The twin gondola chair has an aluminium exterior with padded wooden seats inside and weather-proof windows. Originally from Leysin, a popular Swiss ski resort by the French border, Jameson believes it dates from the 1960s or 70s.- and if some of the stories from the Club Vagabond Facebook group are anything to go by, it could have witnessed some wild times...
As you can guess from the name, Seafield Shed Centre generally deals in sheds - one customer review boasts that their new summer house “is a brilliant addition to our back garden and our neighbours are green with envy” - the discerning gardener can also pick up some other quirky additions including a 100 year old butter churn.
If £2,500 is out of your price range, you could always get this ski lift for £15 - although being made of Lego, it’s slightly less of a conversation starter.
