Dudley, Eunice, Franklin… and now Gladys!
There’s something about the act of wrapping a building in scaffold wrap that turns you into a weather obsessive. For the past week and a bit, we’ve been watching the weather, knowing that a series of named weather events were forecast for the UK, and heading Betley Court’s way. The storms’ names; Dudley, Eunice and Franklin made them sound like an innocent trio of visitors to the gardens, and to be fair they haven’t unleashed too much damage. We lost one tree down in the Dingle, and the scaffold wrap has come away in some places, but Betley Court has faired quite well, all things considered.
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| Scaffold wrap damaged by one of the storms |
Of course, the high winds have delayed some of the scheduled work, and the Hiab (lorry/crane vehicle) has looked quite forlorn, unable to perform the loading duties it was brought on site for. Kudos to the driver of this monster machine for edging it into the forecourt. It seems impossible that such a large piece of equipment could be driven in!
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| The Hiab squeezed into the forecourt. Nigel's in the photo to give you an idea of scale |
The Hiab was brought in to hoist our new steel beams into position, but of course, that had to be delayed due to the high winds. As our contractors, Midland Conservation tweeted yesterday, “No lift plan can accommodate 3 storms in 5 days! A week of steel erection still suspended at Betley Court.” The weather is just one thing that is out of our control. Roll on the spring!
On a walk to check the water levels behind the dam, Nigel
and I spotted the first daffodil flowering near to the gazebo. Signs of spring
abound, with the snowdrops in the formal flowerbeds in full flower, and the
first of the crocuses peeping up alongside the long walk. In all the gardens
are coping well with the copious amount of rain we’ve had, so lets just hope
Storm Gladys isn’t to bad!
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| The first deaffodil in the gardens this year! |
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| Crocuses emerging near the gazebo |
Next month we will be holding a gathering of the Emes Society in the gardens. The Emes Society was originally created in 2008 with the “…intention of looking after the 10-acre (40,000 m2) garden and developing it for the 21st Century, with open days for the public including, e.g., a Bluebell Walk”[1]. This session on 12th March from 2pm will focus on lifting and dividing some of our Victorian daffodil collection ‘in the green’ to help restore some of the areas scalped during repair to the dam and lake in 2019. It is a chance to meet and chat with members of the Brown family and similar minded people. Our visitors’ hub will be open for hot drinks and biscuits, and you can see images from our archives and the rebuild on Betley Court after the fire in 2019. The event is free, but booking is necessary as places are limited. Find out more on our events page on our website www.betleycourtgardens.co.uk Hope to see you there.
All best wishes
Ladybird Su
We’d like to send our congratulations toour contractor MidlandConservation Ltd, whose heritage rebuilding skills have been recognised by the Birmingham
& West Midlands Victorian Society. This is for the restoration of the
Argent Centre in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, where they’ve been working
with Oliver Architecture to replace corner turrets and roofing repairs on this grade II* listed
building.
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| The Argent Building in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. Photo from www.jewelleryquarter.net |
[1] From Betley Court’s Wikipedia page
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