Plans for the Year

We’re pleased to announce our six open garden weekends for 2023. They are a mixture of events some of which need pre-booking, others, just turn up on the day. Tickets will become available closer to the time, via online ticketing. We’ll advertise events on our social media.

WEEKEND DATE
25th + 26th March	Pre-booking required	View extent of external restoration followed by tour of the interior of the house prior to start of restoration, guided by a member of the family
22nd + 23rd April	Pre-booking required	Betley Local History Society event (members only) Heritage Garden Walk
29th + 30th April	No pre-booking required	BLUEBELL WALK open garden
20th + 21st May	No pre-booking required	Open Garden With photographic display of the rebuild of Betley Court
16th + 17th July	Pre-booking required	Staffordshire Garden & Parks Trust event (members only) Heritage Walk
16th + !17th Sept	No pre-booking required	Open Garden

In the house…

Betley Court, southern elevation February 2023 as the scaffolding come down (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

It’s been a delight to watch as the scaffolding comes down, and new areas of the restoration become visible. We’re all seeing Betley Court with new eyes. Shane, our handyman, observed that ‘the factory’ – the servants’ wing – looks much more functional, like an industrial building such as Quarry Bank Mill.

'The factory' and Royds House (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Somehow, reinstating the windows in the house makes it look much less like a ruin, and it has become easier to believe that we will succeed in completing this mammoth task.

First floor window in one of the bow sections (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Release the water!! A scaffolder empties the IBCs that have weighed down the scaffolding for two years (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

On Tuesday, I watched as the scaffolders emptied the IBCs (the huge water tanks that weighed down the scaffolding). Each tank has a tap at the bottom, and once opened, this releases around a tonne of water onto the garden. Then the tank is light enough for two men to manhandle. Scaffold planks, poles and clamps are neatly stacked onto the back of the lorry, ready to return to MD Scaffolding’s HQ in Ilkeston.

I can remember feeling quite overwhelmed when all the scaffolding first arrived. There seemed to be so much of it, and when the scaffolders started raising the temporary roof, boy did it dwarf the house! Somehow, the sheer scale of the scaffolding stood for the scale of the task ahead of us.

Here we are two years later, and the scaffolding is receding, revealing our lovely new roof!

In the gardens…

A postcard of Betley Court, showing Willaiam Barron's yew screen, some time after 1865

Work on restoring William Barren’s yew screen has begun! We’ve taken a huge amount advice from Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire to restore this living topiary curiosity from the Victorian era. We’ve also been granted permission by Newcastle Borough Council to start work, as the trees concerned are in a conservation area, and can be seen from the road. Last week, David Griffiths, a local tree surgeon began work with his team to reduce the height of the eight surviving original yew trees planted by Barron. This will allow light into the lower parts of the yew trees and will stimulate them to send out new growth from the trunks. We will have to pause for a year, to allow the yews to recover before shaping the sides, one at a time over the next four years.

David Griffiths and team reducing the height of the yew trees (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Chipping the offcuts (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Tanya and I have been sowing wildflower seeds around the visitors’ hub. This has involved removing thatch and pernicious weeds from the grass areas, then sowing a special woodland/hedgerow mix of native wildflower species.

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

It’s a nice time of year, as snowdrop, primroses and oxlips are making an appearance. We’ve begun planning dividing snowdrop clumps to spread them into new areas of the gardens, to give interest at more times of the year. We just need the flowering to finish! It is a long-drawn-out task, but I think we have shown that those of us involved in Betley Court are more than able to stick with it.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su