News

THE HALLOWEEN TRAIL

The Halloween Trail proved immensely popular again this year.   Hundreds flocked to the gardens during the weekend of 26 and 27 October.  Young visitors and many families enjoyed walking around the gardens seeking each of the 23 ghouls, witches and other frightening features designed  by The Friends' Hester Casey, all of which had been produced from recycled fabrics and other materials.  Amongst those on the trail were the werewolf, the spider's den, the faceless ghost and the spectacular witch on a flying broomstick.  Charity  volunteers were kept busy in the Tea Kiosk  serving hot drinks and home-made cakes throughout the weekend.  Donations of over £500 received by The Friends will be used to buy plants to enhance the gardens in 2025.

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

Looking Ahead to Halloween

The days are getting shorter, but there are some autumn and winter pleasures to look forward to.  We are hoping for a fine display of autumn colours in the gardens and the churchyard, and excitement is building as Halloween approaches.  Hester Casey's Halloween Trail will be open during daylight hours on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October, offering atmospheric spirits, frights and ghouls.  The trail will be open even if it's showery; if it's fine, members of the Friends will be there from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to sell you a Halloween Trail sheet (£1 in cash).  The Tea Kiosk will be open, cash or card, hoping to welcome visitors at the end of what has been a very soggy season.

Negatives

The gardens have not looked their best this year, sad to say, though the magnificent white hydrangeas were a delight all summer.  We have heard from  Reading Borough Council (RBC) that work to repair the Church Road wall and the ramp down to the Tea Kiosk will start in 2025, so we will have at least one more season of hazard barriers, portaloos and limited accessibility for those with mobility issues.  The stable yard wall is waiting on insurers, so that could be a while yet.  The gazebo (aka listed early 17th century riverside pavilion) has been surveyed and needs remedial work to tackle the damp, but remains closed while RBC seek funds to do the work.

Positives

Visitors will have noticed that the box hedge nearest the footprint of the house is being grubbed out, having been ravaged by box moth.  The Friends are funding a replacement yew hedge to match the one replaced earlier on the other side of the carriage circle.  The removal of the high hedge has opened up a splendid view across the footprint, we should rejoice in the positives.  The box hedging along the timeline also needs replacing, a huge job ahead.

Heritage Open Days

The Friends' quiz for Heritage Open Days in September attracted around 150 visitors, even though heavy rain stopped play early on Sunday afternoon.  Many thanks to our helpers over the weekend, to Walter for the potatoes (from his allotment not Peru!), and thanks to those visitors who sent in such enthusiastic feedback to the Heritage  Open Days organisers.  The theme of where some of our familiar - and not so familiar - plants came from, plus our splendid wall map, sparked a great deal of interest, we should explore further.

Traffic Calming Measures

RBC's Traffic Management Sub-Committee will be discussing the 20 mph speed limit on Church Road and St Peter's Hill at its meeting on 27 November. A delegation of members of the Friends  and St Peter's church submitted a petition to the committee in June.  As our councillors have warned us, even if the measure is adopted, it will join a long queue of other measures around Caversham awaiting funding.

Save the date - Carols on Monday 16 December

An early note for diaries: Christmas Carols in Caversham Court Gardens, with the choir of St Peter's Church and the Salvation Army Band on Monday 16 December.  Floodlit gardens open at 6.15 p.m. for mulled wine and mince pies at the Tea Kiosk (cash or card).  The bells of St Peter's Church will ring out after 7 .00 p.m. and the singing is to start ar 7.30 p.m.  Cash donations please.  The event will be held in St Peter's Church if wet - many thanks to the St Peter's team for their support.

'The Striped House' at Reading Museum

The original drawing of 'The Striped House' (the Old Rectory) by Barbara Seaton in 1792 is on show at Reading Museum.  It was generously donated by the Markham family.

There is also an intriguing oil painting dated 1841 showing the view from the top of St Peter's Hill down to the old Caversham Bridge.  The Old Rectory and the gazebo are unfortunately concealed behind the trees in the painting.

We were intrigued to receive an e-mail from Earth.fm(https://earth.fm/the-quietest-places-in-the-worlds-loudest-cities/) congratulating us on Caversham Court being named  Reading's most peaceful place.

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.