Scarecrows and Butterflies

Scarecrow burglar on the scarecrow trail, Betley village

It always amazes me when I return from a break, how much has changes at Betley Court whilst simultaneously staying exactly the same. Betley village itself has been gripped by a scarecrow-making frenzy to coincide with Betley Show (3^rd August 2019). Held every year since 1857, next door at Betley Court Farm, this is a country show that celebrates every aspect of rural life in North Staffordshire, and the scarecrows welcoming visitors to the village are a lovely touch. If you drive through the village at the moment, you can spot a scarecrow vet in surgical scrubs outside Pool Farm Surgery, and a burglar scarecrow, complete with stripy shirt and bag of ‘swag’ climbing out of a house near the Post Office. I’m enquiring who is organising the scarecrow trail this year, as I think it would be fun for the ‘Big House’ to take part next year too.

Scarecrow back from their skiing holiday?

Mildly alarming - Seth the local vet, immortalised in straw!

Gorgeous red flower and bronzed leaves of Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'

In the gardens, the flowerbeds faired well, enjoying the combination of sun and sharp showers while I was away. The bargain gladioli I bought at Manchester’s Christmas Market are putting on a stunning display. The peony-flowered Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ have filled out, and are blooming for England. They are being mithered by blackfly, and I’m hoping my resistance to spraying insecticide will be rewarded by an increase in ladybird numbers. Ladybird larvae will make short work of all those blackflies!

Our bargain gladioli 

I’ve begun the task of pruning the box hedging back, a process that takes over an hour per bed using hand shears. The oldest parts of the hedging were planted about 10 years ago, and gratifyingly, have started knitting together, to form continuous shapes. The newer plantings will be pruned too. Its counterintuitive, but these need to be cut back even at this small size, to encourage dense, compact and bushy growth. It will be quite satisfying when they too knit together. Already, from the distant eye of Google Earth, the geometric patterns we are creating are visible, and it won’t be long before the hedging frames and contains the ornamental planting.

Up on the paddock, we’ve started to notice the affects of another cultural change we brought in to manage the grass. The paddock is no longer grazed by animals, and rather than mow it, we have left the grass to grow. Mr O ensures generous mown paths weave around the paddock, but otherwise it has become quite naturalised. A surprizing number of wildflowers now grace the paddock. And because the grass is long, we have seen the return of several butterfly species that are dependent upon long grass in their life cycle.

A Gatekeeper or Hedge Brown butterfly (Pyronia tithonus) enjoying the nectar of Verbena bonariensis. This is one species that needs long grass in order to complete its life cycle.

While we were away, permission came for us to fell a couple of trees near the garage forecourt. This is good news indeed. As we are in a conservation area, we always seek advice from the local authority, as our trees contribute to the special character of Betley village. However, the trees in question are growing awkwardly so they need to go. Further tree work, already agreed, will start next week. An overgrown laurel hedge is coming out, to be replaced by a ‘fedge’ (a dividing fence made with living plants, in this case, ivy) and several self-sown volunteer trees are being removed from an area that was once ‘parkland’, i.e. rough grass, brush and shrubs, but is currently dense woodland.

Nigel, with help from the two Mr O’s has been clearing out the garages earmarked for demolition. This mammoth task called for many skips and multiple trips to the scrap yard. Forty years of collected junk and clutter.  The garages were built in the 70’s when cars were a lot smaller. They are simply no longer fit for purpose, as they cannot accommodate modern cars. They also have asbestos roofs, which require removal by a specialist contractor. Some of the garages

are going to be replaced with carparking spaces, others, reconfigured and widened.

Elsewhere in the garage forecourt, the removal of a leaning sycamore will finally allow us to move Bluebell down to the cover of the pergolas. Bluebell, I should mention, is a post war hoop-topped gypsy caravan that I will be restoring once I can get her into dry storage.

Finally, Betley Local History Society (BLHS) had a stand at Betley Show. Their display featured some photographs of Betley Court that we’ve not come across before, which is very exciting! One in particular, is of household staff, assembled outside what is now ‘Caroe Corner’ (one of the flats at Betley Court) but was then the offices for the house. This is where village tenants went to the offices in person to pay their cottage rents to the Squire. We’re guessing the photograph was taken between the wars. BLHS are now advertising upcoming research projects, of which the history of Betley Court within living memory is just one. It will be interesting to see what turns up, and what new stories we discover.

Betley Local History Society call out

Ladybird Su