On Saturday a group of us made our way over the Cotswolds to Cheltenham, for the Cheltenham Hackspace open day. They’ve had a turbulent time on their way to their new home, and having moved in and got everything going they’re anxious to show their new home in an industrial unit in the north of town to the world.
Behind the doorway with its big H logo that lights up a different colour depending on the validity of your access token is their workshop. Up some stairs, and you’re into their “clean” area, with textiles, computing, and a social room. There were a decent number of members and visitors in the space, and it has that satisfying buzz of a busy hackspace.
In terms of equipment it’s interesting to compare what we have against their armoury. We have a greater choice of 3D printers and a much better laser cutter while they have a beautiful treadle lathe, but both spaces are surprisingly similarly equipped at the moment. We’re at a similar stage of growth to them at the moment, we’d expect significant differences between the spaces inventories to emerge as time goes by.
It’s important to forge links with other hackspaces and in particular our neighbouring hackspaces. We are only a small part of a global community, and there will no doubt be times when we collaborate with Cheltenham and other spaces in the future.
