Since then we have pondered long and hard about whether to install some serious shelving to accommodate the various stuff arriving from the shed. First thought was angle iron, and not thinking to ask the Professor, took a look in B&Q (of which more in due course), where the main offering was plastic shelving with a reasonably sturdy looking 3 foot wide unit coming in at £80. Not quite the right width for the intended destination and one could not choose the number of shelves or their position.
Second thought was DIY, having recovered a whole lot more four by two sawn (moderately twisted) from the shed and having a fair bit of plywood left over from the trestle tables and the late lamented lid of the compost bin. Plus a whole lot of countersunk 3 inch No. 10 steel screws, only once used and only slightly chewed up.
So over the last couple of days, took the plunge and knocked up the garage table illustrated, the sort of thing that my father would have called shut-knife work, by which he presumably meant the sort of thing that the villagers of his youth would turn out, before the days of DIY. A bit more than six feet long and a bit less than three feet wide. Plenty of space under for the storage boxes which we already have and which would not have worked very well on shelves.
The four by two is in its third incarnation, that before the shed having been the stud work of the partition which once divided our dining room into a bedroom and a corridor. Table top new. Angle plates probably in their second incarnation. The (dark oak) lower rails probably in their third. I suspect north London origin for these last. Thought slightly posh and let the legs into the upper rails with half inch housings. Thought slightly more posh and actually patched the hole left in one of the legs by a previous housing, a patching which prompted me to sharpen my plane. I was pleased to find that I could still manage this. Not sure about a saw - too easy just to pop down to Travis Perkins and get one of those hard teeth affairs which you throw away when they eventually blunt. Good things, although when new they can make savage cuts in hands and forearms, something I had better avoid as a paid-up warfarin snuffler.
Discovered a large tin of varnish lurking at the back of the garage, a tin the seal of which had held and the varnish was fine, so gave the table top a coat, not for appearance's sake but rather to harden up the soft wood surface a bit. Make it a bit fitter to stand the knocks and dubious chemicals it will shortly be hosting.
So at zero expense at the point of consumption, I think I have avoided the expense and bother of shelving. The only error was that I forget that the garage floor slopes and I should have made the back legs half an inch or so shorter than the front legs. Although that might have been a pain later if I ever came to put the thing somewhere else; unlikely but possible. The only omission was not bothering to treat the bottom of the legs for damp with creosote (probably an illegal substance these days) or some such. But I dare say they will see me out as they are. Let the next man in line worry about that.
PS: but I did, at this point, ask the Professor about angle iron - someone must sell the stuff after all - and found that yes indeed, there are lots of people out there who sell the stuff. But it would probably have cost more than the plastic stuff and would probably have involved a lot more work to cut out assemble than was involved in the table we now have. So no regrets just yet.
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