As The Year Ends

Seasons greeting from everyone at Betley Court. What a year it’s been! I’ve been looking though the hundreds of photos on my mobile phone and it is really surprising to see just how far we’ve come in a year. The Christmas-y snow scene above was taken between Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021, and you can see clearly where the front of the house was partially demolished for safety reasons. In December 2020, the scaffolders had only just started building the temporary roof structure. The remains of Betley Court were still visible from the street. By March, the ruins disappeared behind the scaffold wrap, and in April, work began behind the screen on shoring up the walls.

Betley Court at the weekend, shrouded in mist, and scaffold wrap

Of course, none of this is visible from the road, and we get asked regularly, “what’s really going on in there?”. The rapidly depleted palette-loads of bricks, wood and stone provides the evidence of how much is going on inside. For those of us with access to the scaffold platforms, it has been a marvel to see the transformation, as walls are rebuilt and window opening reinstated. A few weeks ago, just as work started on the roof trusses, I said to Nigel, “the house is looking happier, isn’t?”. And it is. Strong lines of brick have replaced crumbling edges, and the house feels safer now concrete lintels confidently carry the bricks above them. Soon our massive new steel beams will arrive and span the void between the outer walls of the main house.

The 'valley between the factory and Fletcher House

Extending the trusses over Fletcher House

The void over the main house

In the meantime, work continues on the roof trusses over ‘the factory’ (the servants’ wing of the house, given its unflattering nickname by villagers presumably because of its unhomely appearance) and over Fletcher House (the old butler’s hall and rooms). We’re starting to get the distinctive roofline back, which is very exciting!

This week, we said goodbye to someone who has been important to Betley Court for many, many years. Melvyn, our handyman, has been an invaluable member of the team, bringing his broad range of skills to the day-to-day matter of running a place like Betley Court. He was kind, trustworthy and understanding toward Professor Brown and Dr Freda Brown as they grew older, which was an enormous comfort to all of the Brown family. We wish him a happy retirement, and thank him for everything he’s done for us over the years. Although, we're all taking bets on how long it will be before he's back!

Dead Gardeners Society is going to take a break next week. We’ll be back 5^th January 2022, hopefully refreshed for another year in the life of Betley Court. Have a peaceful Christmas, and the good luck for 2022.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su