Drama in the Dingle

It’s been an unusual week at Betley Court. There’s been a dramatic wildlife rescue story, an invitation, and a mystery to solve, which has kept everyone busy.

I only found out about the wildlife rescue a few minutes ago. Every year a pair of mallards raise a clutch of ducklings on the fish pond in the dingle. This year was no exception, and Mr and Mrs Mallard had produced a family of three. Unfortunately, the ducklings ventured too close to the eel trap in the dam, and got pulled into the eel chamber. Even worse was to follow, when two of the ducklings were sucked down the pipes that run through the dam, and shot out to the other side where Tanhouse Brook carries water downstream.

The perilous eel trap

When Shane and Melvyn found them, one was still struggling in the eel trap, and the other two were trapped below the dam, with no way to reach their parents. Mumma Duck was not happy to say the least! Naturally, the ducklings were afraid of the two humans, even although they were only trying to help them. Melvyn and Shane came up with a brilliant idea. They recorded the call of the mother duck on a mobile phone then played it back to the ducklings, who were drawn to the call of their mother. This allowed them to get close enough to capture the ducklings and return them to the fish pond, and the care of their parents. You’ll be pleased to hear Shane and Melvyn also created a duckling barrier so the same thing doesn’t happen again.

Private view at the Newcastle Common shop in Astley Walk

Our invitation came in the shape of a postcard from the artists Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Mcaleer and Ester Brennan, asking us to join them for a private viewing of the Depository of Dull over the weekend. Depository of Dull is a public art project funded by the arts programme Appetite Stoke,  that begun over lockdown. Members of the public in Newcastle-under-Lyme were invited to bring in a seemingly dull object that they had an interesting story or memory about. All sorts of things were donated; a porringer, a cowboy hat, a dog collar, all with interesting stories attached to them. I mentioned in a recent post [link] that we had submitted a stamp of a Morris dancer from a first day cover franked at Betley Court when it became a post office for a day in 1981. It was lovely to see our contribution displayed amongst all the treasured objects, and hear some of the fascinating storied behind them. The stamp and its story even made it into a book specially made to accompany the exhibition.

The stamp, featured in the book accompanying the exhibition

Some of the objects will eventually make it into the collection of the Brampton Museum's permenant collection. I wonder if our stamp will?

What discoveries will Nigel's talk reveal in tonight's talk at Betley Local History Society.

Nigel’s beavering away preparing a talk that he will present to the Betley Local History Society’s meeting tonight. I’ve had a sneak preview, and all I’ll say that is it is about some of the discoveries that have been made during the rebuild of Betley Court, following the fire in 2019. Nigel will be revealing some of the curiosities we’ve found, that have been hidden under plaster and brickwork for hundreds of years, and putting forward a new theory about how the house was built, that contradicts what has been published in the past. Hope to see some of you there! 

All best wishes

Ladybird Su

Betley Local History Society's Facebook page: HERE