The Arrival of Autumn

 

Our bow top caravan, Bluebell under the autumn canopy, outside the paddock

Autumn has arrived in earnest at Betley Court Gardens. Although this morning it’s overcast, yesterday was one of those glorious autumn days, with sun shining through crisp orange leaves that rustle in the breeze.  

Early eveing sun through the trees up at the barbeque area

It was great weather to go walking around the lake and take some photographs of the changing season. And, to be honest I’ve never grown out of the childhood joy of kicking through drifts of crunchy leaves. The course of Tanhouse Brook is carpeted with them in shades of bronze, ochre, and flame oranges. Far too tempting not to scoot through like a six-year-old!

Tanhouse Brook cutting through the orange leaf fall

The Halesia carolina in autumnal leaf

Down in the woodland, Shane has been making good use of all the timber felled by our Reaseheath Forestry and Arboriculture students. The path down to the dingle arcs round in quite a steep twist, and he’s used hefty logs to make a proper edge to the loose earth banks. He’s also been tackling the huge pile of badger spoil that has spilt onto the path. Its not a job for the faint hearted. The badgers dedicated many decades to hollowing out the bank before they moved on.

The steep bank down to the dingle, edged with freshly felled logs

Last week, I mentioned that the planning permission for rebuilding the roof on the main house has been granted. We’ve also been granted permission from the Highways Department at Staffordshire County Council to create road access to a compound at the front of Betley Court. We’re waiting to find out the conditions of this. The devil’s in the detail, as they say!

The new guide for Betley Court Gardens

We’ve now received our new Betley Court Gardens guide from the printer. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it has been beautifully designed by Andy Taylor from A Spark, A Flame, A Fire. We’re planning to put these on sale online even before the gardens open, and I’m just looking into how we can sell and send out copies.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su

A rainbow of leaves from the Liquidambur styraciflua (sweet gum)