January Frost and Fog

Betley Court in the frost during the demolition phase. Photo curtesy of Heavy Lift News

January is traditionally a quiet time in the gardens at Betley Court. The grass stops growing once the temperature drops below six degrees Celsius, and while the day lengths are short. Buds on the bare, deciduous tree branches are swelling, and poised to burst once the spring comes, but for now they are paused. We’ve had some lovely frosty mornings, leaving the lawns white with sparkling ice crystals. The last few days though, have been foggy, shrouding the burnt-out shell of Betley Court in a grey gloom.

High on my list of to do jobs this month, is to comb through the grass on the terrace of the south elevation. Both during the fire, and after in the demolition phase of work, shards of glass and jagged pieces of slate (sometimes shoe box-sized and larger!) rained down onto the ground to become impaled deep into the earth.  Our sister-in-law, over for a Christmas visit from Australia, strong-armed one of her besties into helping her with a finger-tip search of the flower borders around the bow windows. It was her friend’s first-time wearing safety boots, hi-viz and hard hat, and a dramatic change from ‘office smarts’ she’s used. Meanwhile, Nigel persuaded his brother and his bestie that a fun post-Christmas work-out might take the form of barrowing debris from the hall into yet another skip (I think we’re up to number eight now).

The hall corridor (once upon a time!). Photo: Su Hurrell

The two of them shifted in the region of six tonnes, a marvelous achievement in the time available. What a shame they couldn’t stay longer, they could’ve cleared the length of the hallway, and honed their abs at the same time!

Surviving piece of plaster decoration. We've collected and boxed samples like this for future reference during any restoration project. Photo: Su Hurrell

Meanwhile, Nigel managed to restore the water supply back to the third of the apartments that were superficially damaged during August’s fire. It is a great feeling to know that the apartment will be ready to let soon. A step in the right direction!

Its hard to believe that the HLF project started a year ago, so it’s time for Nigel to send in a progress report. Aside any monitoring the National Lottery administrators need to do, the report was a really good opportunity to take stock of what we’ve achieved in a year. Now, given we had that horrendous fire in August, we’ve not done badly at all. We’ve had private visits from historical and horticultural societies, trial openings for the general public, been on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time to get advice, even held a Georgian culinary experience event. The dam has been extensively refurbished, flowerbeds restored, and a huge amount of tree-work done. And the visitors’ hub has been ordered. A good year’s work, I’d say!

Talking of the visitors’ hub, Nigel and I had a lovely evening flipping through samples for different finishes and colours for roof tiles and timber. We arrived at a combination we think will blend in, rather than stand out in the woodland setting. Quite exciting to think of finishes going onto the hut, in readiness for its delivery and assembly onsite. The manufacturers are making a site visit on Friday to size up the plot for the foundations – the multiple concrete pad system I’ve been blogging about.  It’s all coming together.

Brochure and map work in the cccold studio at Spode. Photo: Su Hurrell

I’m taking advantage of the slow season in the garden to make a start on a brochure and map for the gardens. Its quite a challenge writing about a house that burnt down, and on a personal level, difficult reliving what happened to us (cue; hankies and chocolate). But as people keep telling us, it is part of our story now, a compelling one, and part of the history of Betley Court. I for one am interested to find out what way we take the future of Betley Court.

Map detail. Photo: Su Hurrell

Finally, we had slightly mixed feeling on seeing Betley Court in a magazine, albeit a trade magazine. Ainscough, suppliers of Big Yellow Crane that dominated the Betley skyline for a few weeks put a piece in Heavy Lift News (I found myself wondering if that particular trade rag has ever featured on BBC 1’s Have I Got News For You’s ‘publication of the week’) and it included a lovely early morning photograph of the house covered in frost. A beautiful yet gutted house captured in all its dilapidated glory.

Heavy Lift News Link