Sifting and Raking

The hall in Betley Court, complete with digger. Photo: Su Hurrell

Its been another warm week at Betley Court during the Coronavirus lockdown. In the burnt remains of the main house, our contractors have been working up a good sweat clearing the rubble from the ground floor corridors. By the end of last week, two lorry-loads weighing 20 tonnes EACH had been cleared and driven away, with another 20 tonnes waiting on the forecourt. They’ve more than surpassed that amount this week. Shane has been on hand again to spot items that might be useful to the conservation architect and we have recovered remains of carved joinery that gives us a more accurate idea of the age of parts of the paneling. Turns out, it’s a lot newer than we were led to believe!

I had the chance to see the clearance work in progress, dressed in the appropriate PPE garb of hard hat, hi-viz vest and safety boots, of course. Whilst it was heartening to see the progress, it really brought home the scale of the destruction.

Mini digger clearing what was the main stairwell. Photo: Su Hurrell

The bones of the building have been released from their shroud of ash and rubble, but it is difficult to find the words to describe walking through a house I have known for 25 years that is burnt back to the bricks. Any hope of finding cherished possessions evaporated very quickly, when I saw the nature of the pulverized black debris the contractors were removing. It was very painful.

Debris from the house. Photo: Su Hurrell

Thankfully, whilst parts of the house are disappearing, everything in the garden is blossoming. Nigel and I have been grateful to be working on such a positive project in the garden, albeit against a backdrop of the burnt house.

Fox gloves flowering down by the visitors' hub. Photo: Su Hurrell

Down by the visitors’ hub, I’ve finished sowing the native grass species as per the conservation plan that we put together when we were granted permission to build the hub. Now I just need to keep the tiny plants alive during the dry spells with water until they are strong enough to hold their own.

Wildflower seedlings germinating. Photo: Su Hurrell

I am joined on my gardening chores by a young male blackbird I’ve named Left-eye, cleverly named due to his gammy left eye. He’s smart, and has quickly learned that my labours, raking the soil turn up tasty little grubs and worms.

Left-eye, the young blackbird. Photo: Su Hurrell

I’ve been turning up some interesting bits and bobs as I work. Nothing as valuable as the Saxon hoard that a lucky detectorist discovered elsewhere in Staffordshire, but an interesting little window on the past, non-the-less. I keep finding pieces of a white post war teapot that was smashed and discarded in the garden decades ago. Maybe I’ll find enough to put it back together again? There was a shard of Blue Willow – but most gardens in North Staffordshire (the region known as ‘The Potteries’ in England due to the potteries industries locally) will offer up a piece of Blue Willow china if you dig deep enough.

Clockwise from top: white teapot fragment, Blue Willow pattern, min lipstick, hand-finished crock, flowerpot and salt glazed teapot handle. Photo: Su Hurrell 

I’ve found a nice hand-finished piece of pottery, perhaps from a cooking pot? And of course, there are many pieces that are clearly bits of red-earthenware crock that were once part of a flowerpot, urn or tile, thrown out from the former walled garden that lies just metres away. I might frame them and put them up in the visitors’ hub one day. I’ve also found a mini lipstick, possibly 1950’s? I wondered about the woman who dropped it, did she notice? Was she annoyed by the loss? Was it a staff member in Betley Court Rehabilitation Centre, or a visitor of one of the patients? I’ll never know, but it a timely reminder that many people have passed before us in Betley Court’s history, and hopefully, many more will pass in the future. There’s just the small matter of fixing the roof first….
Enjoy the sunny weather!

All best wishes

Ladybird Su

A nice rhododendron to finish with, down by the temple. Photo: Su Hurrell