Barrel

Still down Longmead Road this morning, I came across this half barrel sitting on top of what might have been what was left of the midden left behind by the people noticed at reference 1.

Was it ever a real barrel, an entire barrel, or was it something just sold as such by a garden centre, but actually ready made from China? My guess, for what it is worth, is that without any giveaway plywood or chipboard, it was once a real barrel.

And if it did once belong to a traveller family, what did they use it for? A basket for one of their dogs? A crib for one of their children? A planter for geraniums outside their caravan?

Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-travellers-are-coming.html.