Meet the man behind the new colourful jungle gym at The Mushroom Farm.
Story and pictures: Shirley le Guern
Young entrepreneur Bruce Eales went from sound technician to toymaker during Covid. Somewhere in between building the eye-catching jungle gym at The Bakery at the Mushroom Farm and running a small home maintenance business, he also turns out everything from cupboards and shelving to wooden box planters, wooden crates and coffee tables.
The colourful jungle gym is probably his largest project to date and began when he bumped into Maddison Bakery owner, Ryan Watt, at a local shop. He’d made wooden display cabinets for the company’s products at Spar stores and Ryan asked him if he’d like to take on a creative jungle gym project.
“When I met with him, he showed me a picture and the plan for what he wanted. We had to jiggle it as we went along. We came across some water pipes in the ground and had to move things a bit. I concrete the gum poles into the ground and this couldn’t clash with the piping,” he says.
It took a week for the basic skeleton of poles to take shape, followed by the wonky house and the castle which are joined by an arched bridge.
Bruce says that, throughout the process, safety has been paramount. “It’s very secure. Because it is going to hold children, it has to be very solid.”
Whilst he was working at The Bakery, he says a number of people approached him to find out if he could build smaller backyard versions. The answer is a definite yes and Bruce says this is an aspect of his business that he intends growing so that he can also produce play areas for homes and even schools.
“I can do customised and themed jungle gyms. I can tailor-make whatever I do to suit people’s wants or needs. I can add everything from rock climbing walls to cargo nets and slides,” he says.
Over the past couple of years, he has also made a lot of other wooden children’s toys including playhouses and dolls houses and miniature picnic furniture. Again, he can customise his creations and add things like curtains, cooking utensils, shelving and storage spaces.
Bruce didn’t start out as a carpenter but as a sound technician for well-known Kingston Sound and worked at many large events across the province.
“My boss at the time Brett Kingsland, his wife Marcelle and his brother Charles, taught me all my skills over the past 13 years. We built our own flight cases for equipment, speaker boxes, even toolboxes. I learnt about sanding, finishing, varnishing. When we weren’t busy, we were painting or cementing. That’s why I am quite diverse when it comes to the home maintenance side of my business.”
When wooden pallet furniture became fashionable, Bruce began making gifts for friends and selling some online. Then he began experimenting with hardwoods, making candle holders, shelves and furniture as well as laminating various types of woods to make bread broads, cutting boards and butcher blocks.
Covid saw the cancellation of large entertainment events and Bruce was forced to make a massive life change. With the support of his family, he made his hobby a living.
He benefitted from the sudden spike in home improvement during 2020 but took a hit in 2021 when the second wave of Covid and looting in KZN saw people scale down on spending on their homes.
The Mushroom Farm jungle gym project arrived during a quiet period and Bruce tackled it with enthusiasm.
“It wasn’t easy but it was a great deal of fun. The best part was when kids kept asking when I was going to be finished. They were all looking forward to playing on this big and very different jungle gym,” he says.
His name and contact details are on two wooden plaques on the structure. He also sells and communicates with clients via social media.
FOR MORE INFO: Contact Bruce on 063 690 9387 or via Facebook @madebybruce.