New Trusses and Magic Flowers

There’s been changeable weather around Betley Court Gardens this week. We’ve had some blisteringly hot weather that has dried Tanhouse Brook into a trickle, and then some terrific sharp thundery downpours. On these occasions, I find myself glancing anxiously at the lightning finder app on my mobile phone to see if the storm is anywhere near Betley Court. Thankfully, our massive scaffold structure is protected by a lightening management system, as the new roof will be when its finished, but the thought of a lightning strike still makes me nervous.

Roof section over the 'factory' - the former servants' wing, where seven flats were housed before the fire in 2019.

This week, there was a change to our routine walk around the restoration site. We usually go over the weekend to survey progress. We decided to take a proper weekend off, having worked through most of them recently, and chose the Peak District for our escape, so we popped up the scaffolding on Friday instead, during the builders’ tea break to have a look around. Midland Conservation Ltd’s boss Derrick was onsite to explain what they’re up to currently.

Floor joist being installed. These will become the workshop floor for the time being, then the floor level of the new flats.

The plans for the construction of the new roof over the ‘factory’ or the three storey servants’ wing that latterly housed seven flats, offer a fascinating insight into how a complex rebuild is managed. New joists and boards are being installed into the top floor, to reinstate the floor level. Once completed, these floors will become the workshop for the construction of the roof trusses (the triangular wooden frames that form the structure of the roof). On other sites, the trusses might have been built on the ground and hoisted up as deltoid frames, but at Betley Court the constituent parts will be manhandled to the top of the house and made there. Hopefully, then we won’t need to bring a crane onsite again.

Formers/patterns cut from hard board on top of one of the bows

Betley Court’s just as vulnerable to the disruption to the supply chain as everywhere else, and so labour is being directed to areas of repair, where materials are plentiful. I don’t know what the proper builders’ name form them are, but what I would call formers or patterns for the bow sections of the building are starting to appear.

Top of the bow by what was Caroe Corner

These will be used to shape new timber and masonry parts for the top of that walls. Once thing that has really surprised us is how un-symmetrical much of the seemingly symmetrical Georgian building is. Each of the four bows has unique dimensions, and is built in subtly different ways, but it’s a testament to the architects that works on Betley Court that they all hang together as a cohesive whole, visually.

Four new window openings being created on the southern elevation

At the southern elevation of the house, the new front wall climbs upwards, and we now have new window openings. Gradually, charred lintels are being replaced by new concrete ones, and everything is looking more secure. Some beautiful new sandstone coping stones have been crafted by our masons for the top of John Nash’s single storey bow section at the front of the house. I think Nash would approve of all this care being lavished on his contribution to Betley Court.

New sandstone (left) coping stone, ready for installation on the bow to the right

Repairs to Nash's single storey bow on the southern elevation

Common chicory, a new flower to us

A mysterious (to us, anyway!) flower appeared in Betley Court Gardens, down by the visitors’ hub. It is a pale blue daisy-type flower and seemed to pop up overnight, towering over both me and Nigel. I used a new plant identification app to find out what it was called, and it turns out it is common chicory Cichorium intybus. Other names it is known by are blue weed and wild succory. I can remember chicory extract being used as a cheaper coffee substitute (my mum made delicious iced coffee in the summer using Camp essence when I was a child in the 1970s).

The app labelled our new flower a weed, but in a setting like Betley Court, it brings variety to the wildflower planting, without being invasive, and insects seem to love it. Old English folklore states that the flowers could be used magically to open locked doors. I wish we’d known that all those months ago, when we lost all the house keys in the fire. We could have saved ourselves so much trouble!

Whilst the gardens are not currently pen to the public, videos taken around the building work and in gardens through the seasons can be found on the official Betley Court Gardens Facebook page.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su