View from on High

 

Another cold spell is biting the UK, and our little corner of North Staffordshire/Cheshire East is perishing. As a gardener, I always comfort myself with the thought that garden pests such as slugs take a hiding in cold weather, and certain diseases are checked too. Fittingly, the snowdrops (Galanthus) have popped up in patches all over the gardens at Betley Court.

Snowdrop (Galanthus) by the paddock

I’m not sure how many varieties we have, nowhere near the number they have in the collection at nearby Rode Hall, but their presence is welcome at this very hard time of year. Rode Hall display their snowdrop collection very cleverly. The gardeners leave small handheld mirrors lying in the borders, along with an invitation for visitors to use the mirrors to help them see underneath the flowerheads, viewing the reflection to see the variations. This stops the delicate flowers being damaged through repeated handling, and it is such a good idea, I’d like to adopt it at Betley Court, when we are able to allow the public in.

Sheeting being attached to our giant scaffold frame

People living in Betley will have noticed the cladding sheets slowly being attached to our giant scaffold frame. It is hard work in this weather, fingers frozen to the bone, lots of fiddly ‘latex thread elastic bungee toggle ties’ to thread through the scaffold sheeting. 

Latex thread elasticbungee toggle ties - there must be a catchier name for them?

The sides are attached first, working bottom to top, then the huge roof sheets will be hauled over and fastened. This will create the protective work zone when our building contractors arrive. It is both daunting and exciting to see the work progress!

View of the scaffolding from inside, with wrap affixed to the south side of Betley Court

We’ve taken some photos from the scaffold platforms, and it is quite a sight to be up high looking down on what remains of our family home. We’ve amassed a huge number of detailed photos, recording, for example, chimney pot designs. The chimney pots are a relatively new addition to the house, fitted in the ‘big spend’ of the early 20^th century. We’ll be forwarding the photos to an amazing local business, Cherished Chimneys, who are experts in identifying and tracking down antique chimney pots. Fingers crossed they’ll be able to help. 

View down onto what was the study, through to the cellar

We also took some photos looking down on the formal flowerbeds. There have been parterres (from the French ‘on the ground’) of different designs at Betley Court for at least 163 years.

The formal beds, 2021

Plans contained at the local records office document changing horticultural fashion and style over the decades, and reflect the family’s aspiration to ‘keep up with the Jones’. As patterns on the floor, the parterres were geometric in design, and placed so they could be seen from the high-status rooms of the house, or viewed from the raised terrace.

A survey of the garden, showing a sundial geometric patterned bed, signed DF 1858

William Andrews Nesfield's design for a new parterre, commissioned but never built, 1858

Barron's Italianate parterre design, 1866

This is part of the reason William Barron (celebrated garden designer, who remodelled Betley Court Gardens in 1866) excavated and flattened the ground to the front of Betley Court in the Victorian era, creating the lowered lawn we see today.

Barron's design completed, remained for about 50 years

Now the box hedging is beginning to establish, the patterns in the beds are easier to pick out. We don't know who designed this layout (Thomas H Mawson has been credited by some) around 1919. 

The current six bed layour has been in existance since around 1919, the longest lasting of any of the designs. Viewed from the scaffolding, the pattern we have created in box hedging (Buxus sempervirens) since 2008, stands out really well. In spring/summer/autumn, it frames and contains the flower displays. In winter, the box hedges stand out as a pattern in their own right. They look especially good in snowy or hard frosty weather. We won’t be able to enjoy this view for a while – certainly not from the ‘high status rooms’ that were destroyed by the fire, and not from the scaffolding either, now the wrap is enveloping the building. But it is comforting to think of a day when we will be able to.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su