Peace for the Peace Garden

From the road outside Betley Court, passers-by might notice the gradual removal of the scaffolding. I must admit, I’d imagined the scaffolding going in more of a quick flourish, something worthy of a time-lapse video, but it is lovely to see week-by-week, Betley Court emerging, as someone put it ‘like a butterfly from a chrysalis’. The window contractors, who have fallen behind in installing our new windows, now face a race to get the new frames in before the scaffolding on the upper floors disappears! Otherwise, they have made life difficult for themselves. 

Betley Court, emerging from the scaffold wrap (Photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

As we (the Brown Family) are now responsible for removing any remaining debris and old frameworks from the building, we’ve got into the habit of utilising every visit up the scaffolding to bring down bits of wood. Again, we are in a race against the disappearance of the lattice of poles and staircases around the building. I’ve mentioned before that planning permission has been granted for the first four flats to be rebuilt, so our minds have turned to the problem of reinstating the Peace Garden. 

Old frames like these partially burnt ones needs to be removed and disposed of (Photo: Washington & Peart, Centre Space Arts)

In the months after the fire, it was a difficult but necessary decision to sacrifice the garden to make create a site office and facilities for the contractors. With its access off Court Walk, the Peace Garden offered the most sensible location. When the contractors began their occupation, I had to watch through my fingers as an enormous yellow crane arrived and carved up the fine lawn with its metal tracks during the demolition stage. Site cabins squashed then snuffed out dozens of shrubs and flowers, and hundreds of steel-capped work-boots trod what was left of the grass into the mud. The Peace Garden started to resemble a trench rather than a place of contemplation! 

How the Peace Garden looks today (Photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

In October 2019, I described the creation of the Peace Garden: 

“…the Peace Garden, a pleasant lawn area visible from Court Walk. Until the fire, this was the main entrance for our residents. The Peace Garden was instigated by Prof Brown in 1995, and marked a number of anniversaries; 50 years since VE (Victory in Europe) and VJ (Victory in Japan) Days, 50 years since the establishment of the UN (United Nations) and 125 years of the British Red Cross. As a new graduate of art, I worked in Prof Brown’s antique gallery in 1995; a fantastically varied job, covering restoration and research along with the usual duties of a sales assistant. One day the Professor presented me with a World War Two air raid siren that had been discovered during roof repairs, and asked if I could make a sculpture to commemorate the anniversaries, and mark Betley Court’s role in the War. As, I said, my job at the gallery was varied! Suffice to say, the Peace Sculpture I made from the air raid siren, and scrap materials salvaged from around the building now sits at the centre of the Peace Garden. Over the years the Professor added international-oriented artifacts to the Peace Garden, reflecting his interest in the importance of dialogue and co-operation to steer us away from further conflicts. This includes a Peace Pole which joins Betley Court, in friendship, with a network of similar poles throughout the world. The garden is now associated with the International Peace Garden Foundation based in the USA, and a wreath is laid every Armistice Day.” 

Our Tommy, in the Peace Garden (Photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Prof Brown enjoyed the symbolism of these gardens, linked by the aim of fostering peace, and celebrating friendship. Before the fire, his Peace Garden had become a meeting place where residents from the flats met and chatted, so in many ways, his Peace Garden fostered harmony within Betley Court. He had small brass-coloured plaques engraved with bon mots, to give pause for thought, or amusement. One such plaque survived all the upheaval, and now sits by the temple. It bears the motto, “Better a big bum, than a big head!”. It always prompts a smile, when visitors spot it – and I can almost hear him saying the motto, with a an instructive wag of his finger, and a smile. We’ll try to put his Peace Garden back together again. It won’t be the same as before the fire, but hopefully, it will serve as a place for contemplation again, as Prof Brown intended. 

All best wishes 

Ladybird Su