News

THE SUMMER NEWSLETTER

The Friends Committee have issued the latest news in their Summer  Newsletter the contents of which are reproduced below.

Summer greetings to all members of The Friends, hoping that a turn round the gardens will help keep you cool during the heatwaves.  Our thirsty plants need rain, but preferably overnight, since there are lots of events in the gardens to look forward to.  Our Secretary, Val Peggem will keep you up to date by e-mail.

Swan Upping on the Thames

Representatives of the Crown and the Vintners ands Dyers Livery Companies will be carrying out the annual census of swans  during July.  On Thursday 17 July they will depart from Sonning Bridge at 0900 reaching Caversham lock at 1015, Mapledurham at 1230 and Goring at 1700.

The Federation of Children's Book Groups

The Federation of Children's Book Groups will be gathering in the gardens on 3 August.  Fingers crossed for fine weather for this popular event, which is already fully booked.

Mindfullness Trail

With the help of Charlotte Alchin of Green Health Thames Valley, The Friends will be developing a Mindfullness Trail in the gardens.  This will go onto our website for visitors to print out.  If you are interested in helping us develop this, please contact The Friends.

Guided Tours and Talks

Curious about the history of Caversham Court and gardens? Why not take a guided tour or book a talk for your local interest group - contact The Friends at friends@fccg.org.uk

Heritage Open Days 

Heritage Open Days booklets will be available soon, look out for copies at the Tea Kiosk and in local libraries.  The Friends will be running 'Look, Draw, Build' architecture workshops for childsren 5+ on Saturday 13 September.  Drop in between 1100 and 1300 or 1400 and 1600.  Participants work at their own pace, usually taking around 45 minutes.

CADRA will be organising a series of talks on Saturday 13 September including one on Caversham bridge, which marks its centenary in 2026.  More information on the CADRA website https://www.cadra.org.uk/ and in the Heritage Open day booklet.

Update on Walls and Hazard Barriers

You may have a certain feeling of 'deja vu' when reading this newsletter, because little has changed since last year.  We still have hazard barriers and the aesthetically challenging Mamoth portaloo as the first thing you see on entering the historic gardens.

Repair work has not yet started on the eastern wall (the wall to the left of the main entrance) because quotations from contractors were over budget.  The task will now be re-scoped - but the good news is that RBC officers will try to include the Gazebo in the new project, and completion date is still hoped to be the summer of 2026.  We currently have even more hazard barriers - now down The Warren, where the western wall (the perimiter of the allotments) has been declared unstable.  The RBC officer charged with finding the money to pay for all these works has a huge task; we thank her for her efforts and keeping our fingers firmly crossed.  The stable yard wall at least may be repaired before the end of 2025.  If the relevant planning consent can be prepared in time.  The same contractor may be able to restore the griffin's ear - sharp-eyed visitors may have noticed that one of the griffins has lost a ear.  Thanks to Hester Casey for retrieving it from the adjacent flower bed.

Planting

The gardens have struggled in the current heatwave and drought conditions, 'though the hydrangeas in the White Garden are blooming magnificently.  The Head Gardener is giving great care to the new yew hedge on the edge of the house footprint - this was funded by The Friends to replace the box hedge which succumbed to the box moth.  Replacement of the box hedging along the timeline is still under discussion.

Signage

We are no further forward on the issue of signage, since every discussion on this thorny subject throws up more questions.  Skateboarding on the house footprint is the latest craze, it seems one which won't do the stonework any good.  Dogs off leads, cyclists whizzing through, aggressive games, barbecues...  We need urgently to discourage children from clambering up trees, especially the ancient family yew, so we will start with that, but big signs with a list of 'Dont's' will only put visitors' backs up.  We note that  'Keep dogs on leads' signs have been put up in the Forbury Gardens.

New Supervisor

At the last meeting of the Caversham Court Management Committee - which represents all the stakeholders (The Friends, the Tea Kiosk, St Peter's church, the allotment holders and RBC) - we were introduced to the new Streetscene Supervisor, Tom Whiteman, who has a background in  horticulture.  We welcome Tom and look forward to working with him.

VICKIE ABEL (Chair, The Friends of Caversham Court Gardens)

HEALTH CHECK OF THE VENERABLE COPPER BEECH TREE

Our elderly beech tree has recently had a health check using a technique called Sonic Tomography.   Non-invasive sonic tomography detects decay and cavities in standing trees.  The technique measures the velocity of sound waves in wood; differences in velocity can detect areas of healthy and damaged wood.  A series of nails are lightly inserted around the circumference of the tree.  Each nail has a sensor attached to it and is tapped in turn.  The sensors detect the time taken for sound waves to travel from the source to all the other sensors, data is then recorded and interpreted by  an attached computer.  The data showed that the trunk is reasonably sound and healthy for a beech tree of its age with no significant internal cavities or diseased areas to be of concern.