Brenda Bowtle is theCopped Hall housekeeper and ensures the mansion is ready for all the many events and tours that now take place. She is, however, probably best known among the volunteers for her single-handed renovation of the Rock Garden. Here she explains how it all came about.

I first met Alan Cox when a friend arranged a private tour of the gardens.
All we saw were the ruins, but I wandered off to see what was among some trees and came across a large rock and a large hollow - the area that had been the rock garden.
As we walked back, Alan said he needed money for stump grinding and before I knew it I had paid for a day of stump grinding and obtained a lift to Copped Hall the following week! I started to help clear the garden area first; every week there was a large bonfire and a number of sycamores were removed.
I’ve gardened all my life and rock gardens have always been my favourite.
When I saw the one at Copped Hall, I knew I wanted to take it on as a project.
Little did I realise what a huge task it was and how many rocks, trees and weeds there were, and how many years - more than ten now – it would take to restore some order.
I had a photo of how it used to look but it was not a great deal of use. I had to tackle it bit by bit, always thinking of its orginal concept, filled with ferns, bamboo, hostas, hellebores, acers and spring bulbs. Gradually I began to clear the weeds, dig out the pond, lay grass, make paths, introduce plants, beginning
with the ferns that came from my own garden – I had acquired quite a few when
I helped out at a fern nursery. Every time I dug a hole to plant something, I couldn’t believe the number
of bricks that came out. The brickridden clay soil, along with rabbits and
deer, have been my main problems. I’ve certainly made progress, but I still have things I should like to do: continue the garden under the horse chestnut, put in some steps near the pond and add a few
seats, for a start! I have heard that Mrs Wythes’ niece said the rock garden was never a success, but I hope the family would feel differently if they saw it now.
My role as housekeeper came about accidentally - I just drifted into tidying the mansion and cleaning the lavatories as no-one else was doing it (although Maggie Knope has kindly taken over this last task). Over the years we have cleaned a lot of graffiti from the tiled mansion walls and I’ve helped to shift rubble out of the cellars. If there is a big event, I go up with Richard Caterer the day before to sweep the Servants’ Hall, mop the floors, put chairs out, lay fires and generally tidy up.
At Christmas we have fun decorating some of the rooms and we have an enormous tree in the Hall for the carol
concerts. If it is an event where lunch is involved, I often help the catering team to prepare and serve lunch - I am a firm believer that a volunteer should help out wherever needed.
I do seem to spend quite a lot time at Copped Hall! I might garden for three days a week and for a major event spend another two days cleaning and preparing.
I’ve even slept at Copped Hall when some valuable paintings were on display, although I’m not actually planning to move in permanently – at least not yet!

If you, too, would like to be a volunteer, please get in touch or come along on a Sunday morning.