Last weekend was our first weekend of activities for the
year, and it seems quite fitting that the plants in the garden are coming back
into life, as if to welcome our first visitors. Along with the primroses,
daffodils and hellebores that are bursting into flower around the visitors’
hub, at the entrance to the paddock, the two flowering cherries gifted to us by
Betley WI are putting on a magnificent display of blossom. Ever the gardener,
I seize on evidence of bountiful plant performance as a portent of good times to
comes, and I am delighted that our gift-trees from our friends at the WI are doing so
well.
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| Our gifted cherries from Betley WI |
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| The cherries at the entrance to the paddock |
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| Primorses (Primula vulgaris) a family favourite |
Last Saturday, we had our first volunteers’ day. The task in
hand was relocating and splitting some of the daffodils that were coming up in
the grassed area outside the visitors’ hub. Our new recruits, Tanya and Lindsay
did a great job of carefully lifting clumps of daffs, and moving them to an
area that had been scalped during the construction of the hub. I commented that
it looked a little like a bad hair transplant – it wasn’t a criticism of our
efforts, its just the daffs looked a trifle defeated once planted in their new
homes. I’m pleased to report that following a good watering on the day, and
subsequent spring rain, the daffs are looking much happier. They (the daffs,
not Tanya and Lindsay!!) may sulk this year, but I recon, next year we’ll enjoy
a fine display of, “a crowd, A host of golden daffodils, Beside the lake,
beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” to quote William Wordsworth.
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| Lindsay and Tanya in action |
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| The sulking daffs - they did perk up after a good watering! |
On Sunday, we held our first heritage garden tour. Unlike the
previous restoration tours which focused on the house rebuild, this focused on the history of Betley Court Gardens,
and the landscape gardeners that shaped it. Nigel gave a slide presentation in
the visitors’’ hub about different design aspects of the garden. Then we
conducted a tour, pointing out some of the features we’d talked about. One of
the highlights for me was something you just can’t plan for. One of our guests,
JL had been a patient at Betley Court Rehabilitation Centre during its days as
an orthopaedic unit. He brought the past to life for us, describing his time here.
He also filled in many of the gaps in our knowledge about how the hospital was
arranged. We’ve discussed meeting up and recording some of his memories for
posterity, and he has kindly shared some photographs with us of his time here. Once
we’ve got the proper permissions in place, I’d love to share some of those stories
with our Dead Gardeners Society readers.
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Our visitors, learning about the belts of broadleaf trees planted by William Emes to frame the view of Betley Mere.
 | | Explaining the eel trap |
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The main news from the rebuild of the house is that the steel
roof frame build is complete, and application of the fire-retardant paint
commences soon. We are in week 16 of a 30-week contract, so work is continuing
apace. It is a momentous time for everyone in the Brown family, as a
recognisable silhouette of Betley Court is emerging behind the scaffold wrap. Soon,
Derrick, our site manager will be on site with the joiners, cladding the frame with rafters and laths
as the next stage of roofing begins.
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Inserting a new beam above Anastasia Fenton's conical roof (Peart & Washington)
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Finally, it is lovely to be able to share a selection of the
fabulous photos Darren and Sarah created. We are so fortunate they are
contributing to an important record of Betley Court’s rebuild. We were especially
pleased that they captured the comradery of the team from Ballard Engineering working
in conjunction with Baldwins Crane Hire (nice teamwork, lads!). Incidentally, we
had a message all the way from a reader in the US asking how on earth we fitted
a Hiab in the forecourt at the front. The honest answer is, we don’t know how they did it!
Clearly, it defied the rules of physics, so presumably some sort of magic was
involved?
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| Teamwork and cooperation was the name of the game this week (Peart & Washington) |
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Making the roof frame. Think giant Meccano (Peart & Washington)
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| Carefully lifting a new beam into place (Peart & Washington) |
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| Concentration, as a new beam comes in through the temporary roof. |
(Peart & Washington) |
Winching in (Peart & Washington)
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| Infinate concentration - he is talking constantly to the crane operator as steel pieces are hoisted in |
(Peart & Washington)Ladybird Su
I'm surprised the cherries are in flower. We have seven of varying shape and colour here in Madeley and they're all still in the green bud stage. The purple anenome nemerosa are giving a lovely display in the gravel by our front gate and the crowds of cyclamen coum provide a magenta and occasionally white carpet in the rockery. Sadly the bright yellow hamamelis flowers are over for another year and its leaves are starting to open. We await the new seasons clothing of the burgundy and green Japanese acers with impatient anticipation.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we love about gardening - once one thing is over, another comes into flower. There's always something in season somewhere in the garden. The cherries were a lovely surprise as they came into blossom very early. We were relieved they made it through the winter! We've just started planting cyclamen, and are looking forward to future years when they pop up in the early year.
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