If you come across any of these chaps at a barbecue this summer, you may just want to be a little bit careful about asking them if they have any hobbies. Because there’s every chance you might not find their pastimes quite as fascinating as they do!

In fact, so boring are they that they have all featured in a book called Dull Men Of Great Britain. But the book’s writer, American Leland Carlson, reckons they’re so boring, they’re actually fascinating: ‘It’s riveting to see how passionate the men are about things others often regard as mundane, everyday, ordinary, dull.’

Meet the men and make up your own mind…

The lawnmower man

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Stan Hardwick, from Yorkshire, collects lawnmowers and now has a 500-strong collection. Stan certainly doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet!

Getting his teeth into handsaws

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Retired doctor Simon Barley, from the Lake District, has an unusual handsaw hobby, and is a world authority on them, having collected 1,500 handsaws, completed a PhD and authored a book on the subject.

Hedge of reason

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Londoner Hugh Barker spends his time travelling the country taking photos of hedges.

Soldiering on… and on… and on!

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Having spent the past half a century collecting toy soldiers, actor Tim Barker, from Cumbria, has now amassed a mini army of more than 12,000. He has even set up a museum, Soldiers in Silloth, which houses half his collection. ‘I like miniatures and the fact you can use them to create a world of your own,’ says Tim.

Bricking it

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Neil Brittlebank is an avid collector of bricks. Neil, from Yorkshire, has over 1,000, dating back to 1892. He’s used them to build a path in his garden and a driveway. Sometimes Neil doesn’t need to go brick-hunting as the bricks come to him. He opens the front door to find people have left him donations on his doorstep.

Beer anyone?

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Nick West is a ‘beer can bore’! His four decades of collecting have seen Nick, from Somerset, amass a collection of more than 7,500 British beer cans. Must be thirsty work!

Brain drain!

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The aptly named Archie Workman, from Cumbria, is a drain-spotter! ‘I find drain covers so interesting. There’s a lot of history behind them. It’s interesting to observe the geometry of drains and how they interconnect. There’s a whole world underneath us that we don’t realise.’

Pillar to post

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Peter Willis is a man on a mission – to photograph as many of Britain’s post boxes as possible. Peter, from Worcester, has already notched up 2,500. Guess he’s a man who always delivers on his promise…

Power vacuum

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James Brown, from Derbyshire, feels good – because of his collection of more than 300 vacuum cleaners. Not so much sex machine as clean machine!

Magic roundabout

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While some people spend their weekends going for walks in the country, at shopping centres or at car-boot sales, Kevin Beresford, from Worcestershire, is busy going round the bend – as he travels the country photographing roundabouts. Kevin, who is president of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, uses his pics to make calendars and books.

Cone clone

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The sight of traffic cones might send blood pressure soaring for most of us, but Cotswolds man David Morgan must find the traffic-calmers calming as he has the world’s largest collection. What a load of bollards!

Station master

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Maths teacher Andrew Dowd, from Manchester, has added up all the train stations in England, Scotland and Wales, and visited every last one of them! It took Andrew four years and 36,000 miles of driving to complete his visit of all 2,548 stations.

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