The following photos taken by Diana Walsh of the Puddingstone Club, show the rich variety of Puddingstone found in Hertfordshire, and some of the uses to which it has been put.
Puddingstone Identification Chart
Archives for April 2018
Building the Fernery
In 1851 William Blake employed a highly-regarded Head Gardener Anthony Parsons. His obituary published in The Gardeners Chronicle of 1881 ³ confirmed his gardening expertise and sound judgement: he was “successful in originating some fine new varieties of British and other Ferns, one being named in his honour Gymnogramma chrysophylla Parsoni.
When Wiliam Blake (senior) died in 1852 his son William John Blake inherited the house. He asked Head Gardener Anthony Parsons
to build a Fernery in an old chalk pit about 500 metres to the East of the House, incorporating Pulhamite artificial rock work.
No papers exist to describe how the Fernery was constructed and then planted, but Pulham’s promotional catalogue of the time confirmed the construction of a ‘cave, dropping well, pass for ferns and other rockplants in an old chalk pit but in artificial stone’.
After the death of Anthony Parsons on Christmas Day 1880, and although still receiving praise in The Gardeners Chronicle of 1881, it is doubted that the Fernery will have continued to be managed on anything like the same scale for the following reasons:
- The Fernery was not very close to the House,
- There was a succession of new owners after 1902,
- Constructed in a pit, it was hidden from casual sight,
- Maintenance of the Fernery will have been labour intensive,
- The Victorian ‘fad’ of ”Ferning’ declined with the loss of men in the Great War
- Suitable labour will have become scarce,
The Puddingstone Club
The following Report was kindly produced by Diana Walsh.
Who We Are
The Puddingstone Club was formed in February 2016, following a visit to Hertford Museum and seeing such fine examples of the stone both there and in Hertford Castle grounds.
We are a small group of five and we research where known puddingstones are located and then plan a visit to see them and photograph them (usually followed by a nice lunch in a local pub). Over the two years we have discovered stones not just on public display but have been invited into private gardens to see them too.
Puddingstone Club Members:
Diana Walsh, Linda Dolata, Maureen Delandro and Kim Korakidis (fifth member Gill Hutchins was unable to join us).
Background to the Danesbury Fernery Visit
On visiting Danesbury Fernery with the Hertfordshire Garden Trust on April 11th 2018 , I was astonished to see how much puddingstone there was in the Fernery, dotted about amongst the impressive Pulhamite rock work. The Leader of the Friends of Danesbury Local Nature Reserve, John Roper, explained that they had quite a pile of stone that they needed to move in the Fernery and wondered if I would like to bring my fellow enthusiasts to help identify what was puddingstone.
Our visit was bathed in sunshine which made the fernery look all the more splendid, and we were made very welcome by John and his fellow volunteers Harry and Sue.
Discoveries
Many of the pieces we saw we could agree were definitely Hertfordshire Puddingstones ; water smoothed pebbles embedded in a silicious matrix that is extremely hard. Some larger pieces were less easy to identify having larger pebbles and with more protruding making it harder to identify.
Conclusion
Our thanks go to John and his team for sharing this very special place with us and the time they gave us.
With all best wishes and thanks,
Work Party Report – 19th April 2018
Weeding and Nettle Control
On a warm and sunny day the team continued weeding the planting beds. 
We still hope to get the Borough Council to undertake some nettle spraying in non planting-bed areas, but in In antithe planting beds nettles have to be hand weeded.
Daffodil Rescue
In anticipation of the Digger lifting the top off the large Tufa bed in the centre of the dell, we dug out as many of the daffodils as possible and re-planted them on the South border of the Entrance where they should now remain undisturbed.
Whips and Shrub – Perimeter management
We continued clearing around all the whips and shrubs planted in February, to allow them to grow unimpeded by weeds.
Tufa Removal
Removal of dumped tufa rock had been scheduled as a task for the Maydencroft Digger, but following careful sorting we decided that all the stones would remain on site, the majority of which will be used to drop in at the edges of planting beds around the site.
Visitors- Puddingstone Group – 20th July 2018
Arising directly from last week’s visit from the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust we had four visitors from a Puddingstone group. (Their report is published separately as The Puddingstone Club.).
With the Group’s help we discovered that we have a larger ratio of puddingstones to Tufa and conglomerates than we had previously thought.
Fencing
We successfully extracted three very complete original fence panels from close to the badger set, for installing in more prominent positions later.
Mains Water Supply
An effort to turn on the water supply failed once again, and renewed efforts will now be made to get Maydencroft to reveal their stop cock location and help us resolve the problem.
(Ed: This was resolved on Wednesday 25th April 2018. The hose reel is installed and a Watering Roster needs to be drawn up)
Fernery Gardening Group
Over Elevenses of coffee and flapjacks, several volunteers expressed a willingness to attend on a more frequent basis. Plans will therefore be drawn up for a Gardening Group to be established that will allow volunteers to make discreet arrangements to meet up for gardening work. For Insurance purposes it will be necessary to let the Borough Council know in advance when each such activity is planned.
If you would like to be included in the Fernery Gardening Group and will agree to share your contact details with like minded members, then please confirm to ku.gr1550441897o.yre1550441897nrefy1550441897rubse1550441897nad@r1550441897eporn1550441897hoj1550441897
Dates of Next Working Party Meetings
Please go to the Calendar for details
Notice of Work Party – Thursday 19th April 2018
The Best Laid Plans..
Plans for our next Working Party have been seriously impacted by the recent spell of very wet weather. The site is still very wet.
The scheduled Monday 7th April arrival of the Maydencroft digger had to be postponed, and it is not likely to be brought on site for at least two more weeks to allow the site to thoroughly dry out. We will not therefore be able to complete some tasks scheduled to be completed this month, and we might have to put in extra hours if we are to prepare in good time for our big plant-up in May.
We will give you a further update next Thursday.
Site Clean up since our last meeting
You will undoubtedly notice that the site is considerably cleaner since the last Working Party due to:
- 26th March – a small group cleared leaves from the paths and burned off loads of twigs,
- 1st April Sue and Andrew cleared leaves and rubbish from the dropping well,
- Tuesday 8th April Harry cleared all the rocks and the stagnant standing water out of the basin, and with Andrew’s help cleaned the site in advance of last Wednesday’s visit by Kate Harwood and students of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust.
The HGT visit was very successful. Kate Harwood showed her thanks by presenting the FOD with a fern Polypodium vulgare which she planted to a full fanfare of shouts and encouragement from all those present.
Tasks for Thursday 19th April 2018
Weeding and Nettle Control
If we have time to organise this with the Borough Council, we might undertake some nettle spraying in non planting-bed areas.
We should continue to hand weed nettles from the planting beds
Daffodil Rescue
We will dig out as many of the daffodils as possible on the Tufa Bed which are now past their best, and store them for later re-planting.
Whips and Shrub management
Clear around all the whips and shrubs planted in February, to allow them to grow unimpeded by weeds.
Puddingstone Removal
Removal of dumped tufa rock is scheduled as a task for the Maydencroft Digger, but because many of the dumped stones are unusable it will help if we can separate the more valuable pieces that we want to keep, including the puddingstones and some pulhamite fragments. The purpose is to maximise the use of the digger by presenting an uncomplicated pile of redundant stone ready to be removed from the site completely in one go.
The puddingstones are to be removed to a safe place to await further investigation.
Rabbit Scrapes
Fill some of the rabbit scrapes where they have dug holes in the banks so that more grass seed can be sown.
Other Tasks
These can be determined on the day, and will be dependent on available resources and ground conditions.
Visitors
On Friday 20th April, we are expecting two or three members of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust who visited us last week, and have asked to return to study our Puddingstone samples more closely.
Dates of Future Meetings
Saturday 5th May 2018 – Fernery Garden Group
Thursday 17th May – Fernery Working Party
Saturday 2nd June – Fernery Garden Group
SUNDAY 17TH JUNE – WELWYN FESTIVAL OPEN DAY – 2pm to 5pm
Thursday 21st June – Fernery Working Party
Danesbury’s Park Field – Scrub Bashing and Path Clearance
July/August/September – we will continue gardening activities, but we will plan some overdue scrub-bashing work on the Park Field.
Meeting Place – Thursday 19th April 2018
We will meet at The Fernery at 10 am. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.
All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.
For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.