• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Danesbury Fernery

'the best fernery to be found in the Home Counties'

  • About
  • Galleries
  • Fernery Video 2023
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Location
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Join us
  • Garden Strategy and Design
  • Funding
  • History
    • The House
      • Historical note – the Closure of Danesbury Hospital in 1993
    • The Families
      • A time Line – Post Fernery
    • The Fernery
      • Fern Fever
      • The Gardener
      • Pulhamite
  • Local Nature Reserve
    • Butterflies/Invertebrates
    • Fungi
    • Wild Flowers – Nature Reserve
  • Reports
    • Progress
    • Visits
  • Contact
You are here: Home / News / Oct 2022 – Restoring South Bank Steps

Oct 2022 – Restoring South Bank Steps

4th November 2022 By John Roper Leave a Comment

Early 19th Century gardening journals told us that steps existed from near the entrance down to the grotto but we had not been able to establish the location to any degree of certainty. There were two or three slopes that might have provided a route that matched the description but in January 2018 Ann and Becca started excavating one of the rock slopes. Over the course of a few working parties they began to uncover concrete blocks that looked as though they could have been risers to a staircase, and there the (stair)case rested – until October 2022.

Alan Bishop & Associates returned to Danesbury Fernery in October 2022 to reconstruct the steps on the South Bank that had been excavated in 2018 as part of the site clearance, but not restored.

With moneys ‘left over’ from recent Pulhamite Repair Funding from the National Lottery, and a Community Grant from the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, volunteers Harry, Alan and Colin led a Project to bring Alan Bishop & Associates back on-site to restore the steps to their likely original Pulhamite quality.

To meet the costs of so-doing it was necessary for the volunteers themselves to prepare the site in advance by clearing away rubble, recovering several unused large stones from around the site to create a platform half way down and constructing footings and step risers ready for Alan Bishop’s arrival.

Alan Bishop and Jules then moved in and spent 4x days demonstrating once again their amazing skills in constructing a flight of steps that Pulhams themselves would have been proud of in 1860.

Danesbury Fernery Volunteers steps
Volunteers Danesbury Fernery steps
2018 Work of the volunteers Danesbury Fernery steps
Volunteers at work Danesbury Fernery steps
Danesbury Fernery steps
Alan Bishop & Associates Pulhamising Danesbury Fernery
Volunteers at work
alan bishop & associates, danesbury fernery
Alan Bishop & Associates Pulhamising Danesbury Fernery
Alan Bishop & Associates Pulhamising Danesbury Fernery
Alan Bishop & Associates Pulhamising Danesbury Fernery

Filed Under: News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Earlier News

Anglia in Bloom 2023 – A Gold Award

We have more success to announce. The Friends of Danesbury Fernery were Gold … [Read More...] about Anglia in Bloom 2023 – A Gold Award

National Garden Scheme – Success

The two Open Days of 8th and 10th June were a resounding success. Huge praise … [Read More...] about National Garden Scheme – Success

Fernery Video 2023

This video was made in June 2023 when the Fernery was just about ready for the … [Read More...] about Fernery Video 2023

Archives

Follow Us Online

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 Friends of Danesbury Fernery (FODF). Non attributed photography by John Roper.