NOTE: Before I get to the horse stories I think some credit is due to Kevin
for getting the wayward jungle of the formal gardens under control. It was not easy. It
also could be darn dangerous.
EPISODE 838 THERE ARE RISKS INVOLVED IN MANAGING A COUNTRY ESTATE …as Kevin discovered
alan skeoch
June 25, 2023
What is strange about these pictures above? Right guess! They need a hair cut.
English country estates had many employees ….they were needed to keep the
estate pristine … Just to keep the ornamental trees and hedges and formal grardens
neat and tidy required a bunch of gardeners. Our grandfather, Edward Freeman, was head
gardener at the Eywood Estate near Kington, Herefordshire way back in 1900. He
had a staff of 10 ‘under gardeners’.
Kevin Skeoch does not have that luxury so has undertaken to keep the Shenley Estate
under control with a staff of one. One person. There are risks involved
just pruning there ornamental shrubs. So Kevin Skeoch is shaping the
Shenley Estate. Rectory Lane, Hertfordshire more than a century later.
“When we moved here the shrubs had become a forest and the grass was a hay field….
took a lot of work bringing the estate back to life…and I am not finished yet.”
“What comes next?”
“See those tall ornamental cedars over there?’”
“You have made them look beautifull except for the tops.
Tops need a haircut.”
“So I have borrowed this scaffolding from the carpenters. On wheels. help me
push the tower over to the cedars.”
“Joking! Way too dangerous….you could killl yourself.”
“Push! Call Morgan out to help.”
“Dad, this is stupid. You cannot climb the scaffold…it will be top-heavy”
“How else can I clip the rest of the two trees.”
“Leave them alone….they look like immense pineapples now…”
“No. Push….Push”
“Look at the ladder…impossible to get to the top platform and
then reach out with the clippers.”
We argued and cursed. Kevin responded in kind. ‘Stupid is as stupid does’ was a line
from a Tom Hanks movie that seemed to fit. Kevin began to climb and then realized
the ladder went to the sky and not to the upper platform. Reluctantly he climbed down
and made us a few drinks instead. He never admitted verbally that Morgan, Marjorie and
I were correct.
Then he got another wild idea. The Horse Trailer…flat roof he could stand on.
“Help me pus the horse trailer into position…I can prune from the roof.”
We did not move. Kevin gave up. His life was saved.
Later we had lunch. Kevin still asked about the cedars that needed a hair cut. “The trailer is a good idea.” Meanwhile I spent some time
figuring Kevin’s I.Q. Did he get his brains from his mother or me?
