Never Far From Our Minds

Easter greetings from everyone at Betley Court Gardens! The weekend is forecast to be splendid - well apart from the Bank Holiday Monday, when the traditional British washout is preditcted. 

Sometimes I’m a bit stuck for what to write in these posts. Finding a new subject is a challenge week after week, and with the pace of change at Betley Court hotting up, what should remain private and what should be in the public domain?

At moments like these I usually turn to one of our reference books about the house, either Godfrey Brown’s This Old House or Francis Randle Twemlow’s The Twemlows, Their Wives & Their Homes from Original Records for inspiration.

This week I found a passage in This Old House which resonated;

“Unrecognised by us at the time, we were seeing another birth – the renaissance of Betley Court. Reading through this chapter, I am conscious that the house seems to be passive: things were being done to it. We were getting installed and settling in. The house itself, however, was not so much settling down as waking up.

Put another way, at the same time as we were taking over the house, the house was effectively taking over us! It was alive but frequently affected by ailments, which we had to recon with every day. Keeping it healthy, keeping it maintained in a state to which it had been accustomed to over the centuries, were henceforth to be considerations that would never be far from our minds. It had become part of the extended family.”

Unmistakably Godfrey’s voice, it could have been written this week about Betley Court in its present state. I wonder what he would make of it all; the fire, the devastation, our decision as a family to attempt a rebuild, rather than walk away?

Professor Godfrey Brown in July 2020 (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

As a family we never pushed him to understand what he comprehended of the fire. He seemed content that he was surrounded by the family and his regular carers, his tenants (and purveyors of his favourite homemade desserts) who had become dear friends. Family visited IRL (in real life) and virtually via an impressively sophisticated tele-conference system set up by my brother-in-law. However, he wasn’t able physically or mentally to join in with the rebuild, his world becoming the rooms he occupied. That said, for months after he passed away, I had a recurring dream where he would tour the roofscape from the heights of the scaffolding, wearing no safety equipment, but an oversized Aaron cardigan and his favourite Ugg slippers. He’d shuffle around the uneven scaffolding planks while Nigel and I explained the latest stage of the rebuild, and marvel at the progress, exclaiming, “Golly!” at some new purlin or chimney pot. Betley Court was (is) never far from our minds, just as it had been for Godfrey and Freda when they restored it. I wonder – did it haunt their dreams too?

The roofscape early in the rebuild - what would Godfrey have made of it? (photo: Washington & Peart, Centre Space Arts)

Shortly after the fire, our eldest, a huge fan of period dramas described her feeling towards Betley Court with a quote borrowed from Downton Abbey.  The Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley is explaining his feelings towards the family estate of Downton Abbey to his mother, and states, “It is my third parent, and my fourth child.” I recognise the sentiment entirely. Looking after Betley Court is like looking after elderly parents and young children simultaneously, but you go beyond what’s necessary because that’s what the job is. With a big old house, you’re always conscious that your role is just a short temporary one in the lifetime of the house, and the task will pass to others soon enough!

New Restoration Tour Tickets

Nigel and Su inside Betley Court during the rebuild (Photo: Washington & Peart, Centre Space Arts)

We have events coming up at the end of April. On the 23^rd April 2023, we’ll be holding another restoration tour of Betley Court. It is a chance to see where we’re up to with the restoration, and as before visitors will don safety hats and hi-viz jackets (please wear suitable stout footwear and clothing) to walk around some of the rooms. £10pp. Tickets MUST be prebooked through our website due to the limited numbers in groups.

RESTORATIONTOUR TICKETS

Bluebell Walk 29th & 30th April 2023

English bluebells arpund the visitors' hub last year (photo: Su Hurrell/Ladybird Su)

We also have our annual bluebell walk. Started by Professor Godfrey and Dr Freda Brown many years ago, it is an opportunity to see the English bluebells that grace the woodland around the dingle and fish pond. A self-guided tour map is included in the ticket price. £5pp, children under 15 free. Pay on the day on the gate or buy tickets in advance HERE.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su