Weather warning

A precocious daffodil watches over Betley Court. Photo Su Hurrell

It’s all go with the weather in the UK at the moment. Storm Ciara last weekend followed by Storm Dennis this weekend. Two 'named weather events' in a week! Despite my fears, the gardens at Betley Court faired pretty well, and the fierce winds brought down the odd bit of deadwood from the top of the trees. Our remaining chimneys on the main house stood firm, so that was a piece of good news at least.

Monday brought unexpected snowfall. The forecast said there would be snow on higher ground, so an inch of cover at lunchtime was a surprise for us in the lower areas of North Staffordshire and Cheshire East. Unfortunately, our contractors were attempting to complete the roof on the new visitors’ hub at the time. It became obvious that is was too dangerous to continue, so they downed tools for the day.  

First view of the new visitors hub in all its blond pine glory. Photo Su Hurrell

It’s amazing how quickly the hub is going up. It’s only now we are getting a good idea of how big the space is and how it feels. And we’re actually very pleased with it! Dan, our friendly-tame electrician is busy putting in sockets.

Electric sockets being installed in the tea room area. 

We’ve decided what kitchen units we want to put in, and tomorrow someone is coming to measure up for a log burner.  A ten-year weatherproofing finish is being applied to protect the timber. It’s a rich brown colour we hope will help the hub blend into the woodland surrounding.

The rich brown weatherproofing finish. And Nigel, looking like one of those figures architects insert in plans to give an idea of scale. Photo: Su Hurrell

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The wood in its raw state is a dazzling blond pine, and stands out quite harshly. Its does smell lovely though!

The tea room windows. Photo: Su Hurrell

This will be the tea room area. Nice big windows for a good view. Photo: Su Hurrell

Elsewhere in the garden, the odd precocious daffodil has popped up amongst the snowdrops. I’ve discovered some of the tulip pots I planted early in 2019 by the side of the main house. I think a fair few either melted or got knocked over by the fire brigade as they battled to bring August’s fire under control. I’ll need to don a hard hat and safety gear, and venture inside the Aras safety fencing cordon sometime and rescue the remaining pots. It would be good to put a few pots around the sundial, just to make it look a little cheerier.

Snowdrops, the start of the horticultural season at Betley Court Gardens. Photo: Su Hurrell

I’m also turning my thoughts to what should go in the borders this year. The Dahlias D. Bishops of Llandaff, did very well last year, and are overwintering in our garage to escape the frosts. Quite a few of the plants I put in last year were hardy perennials, and hopefully will start growing again. Fingers crossed. I’ll start off some plants from seed again this year too; sweet peas, poppies and cornflowers. Using plastic boxes and lids as mini greenhouses works really well last year. Time to grab the notebook and start planning!

Finding inspiration in the garden centre

The guide book is gradually coming together, just a final draft to run by Nigel before we pass it onto our graphics designer.

Drafts for the guide book.

I’m also trying to dig out some photos for the guide. Many original photos, and copies of originals were destroyed in the fire, so it’s a case of seeing if any are saved on external hard drives, or if Betley Local History Society have any. One in particular, is of the yew screen that William Barron, the garden landscaper planted in 1865. Old photos show the family of the house sitting formally on a stone seat hidden in the curve of the screen. The screen prevented the Squire and his family being gawped at by people on the Main Road, and stopped anyone glimpsing the Mere. The screen is still there, albeit in a rather overgrown state. The boughs on the house side are singed from the fire, but this 250-year-old living garden feature is still going strong. Perhaps one day we’ll have time to restore it!

Keep warm until next time!

All best wishes

Ladybird Su