Three Years On

It’s fair to say, life is never dull at Betley Court. We never know quite what is going to happen, and this week was no exception. On Friday (19th August 2022, Nigel chatted with BBC Radio Stoke’s Stuart George via Zoom during his morning show. The purpose was to talk about our weekend restoration tours and to catch up on how the rebuild was going. A catch up was timely, as Radio Stoke have taken an interest in Betley Court over the years, from reporting on the night of the fire, to marking the anniversaries since. With the rebuild in full swing, we had something positive to report.

Nigel, at his desk in the visitors hub, shortly after the interview with BBC Radio Stoke's Stuart George

Stuart asked about the importance of Betley Court to the local area. Whilst its historical importance is apparent, Nigel spoke of the community of Betley Court that was displaced after the fire – former residents who had to find homes elsewhere, having lost everything.

Nigel also talked about some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the rebuild project too. Did you know, for instance something like 25,000 new slates will eventually cover the roof? And 99 windows will be either completely remade, or refurbished. He also talked about the team that has been brought together to rebuild Betley Court.

UK readers can listen to the interview on BBC Sounds by clicking on this link: BBC Radio Stoke

[The interview is about 1 hour 30 minutes into the programme]

Funnily enough, Stuart mentioned that he’d once looked around one of the apartments some years ago, when looking for a new home, “…I think it was the ice house bit, it was certainly cold to walk around!” he said. Stuart will be pleased to know, we’re improving the windows and insulation as we rebuild, so the ice house no longer lives up to its name!

In the Nash Room

At the weekend we held some more restoration tours. This time, for the first time, we were able to show people what’s been going on inside the house. The tours proved to be really popular, and once again, we kitted guests out in hard hat and hi-viz jackets and took them into the main house. Nigel gave a talk as guests moved from room to room, and we’d pinned photos around of ‘before’ and ‘after’ the fire, and at different stages of the demolition and rebuild process. “If you can’t tell which are which, then we’re doing something wrong!”, he remarked, to much laughter from the groups.

In the butler's room, showing some of the plans for the next phase

Photos showing various stages of the rebuild process

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to talk with the guests in the visitor hub, and we were delighted that several were former residence going back several decades, who just wanted to see how the old place was doing. We also met the daughter/granddaughter of two of the gardeners who once worked here. It was a memorable moment when she exclaimed, “That’s my grandad!” on sight of Mr Leath in the flower garden on one of the history boards around the garden.

Mr Leath, head gardener, in the flower gardens

Yesterday, 23^rd August 2022, marked the third anniversary of the fire that destroyed Betley Court. The weekend rebuild tours gave us a good chance to take stock and appreciate what has been achieved in those years. Better still it is lovely to be in a position to share it with people. As Nigel said in his interview, you need a good team around you, and we have. The best. Thank you to every one of them!

All best wishes

Ladybird Su