Story Search Results

Temple Newsam and the Meynells

TEMPLE NEWSAM AND THE MEYNELLS:     On 11th August 1863, Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram married the Hon. Emily Charlotte, daughter of Sir Charles Wood, Bart, afterwards 1st Viscount Halifax.  The Woods were an old gentry family, for many centuries respectable York merchants.  They were to turn grand upon the discovery of coal beneath their ancestral estates.  This was the great Barnsley field, with several hundred acres of Britain's deepest and finest coal.  Sir Charles Wood had a distinguished political career and they owned family seats at Garrowby, Pocklington, near York and Hickleton, near Doncaster.  They also owned a London house in Belgrave Square....

The Grand Opening #5

THE GRAND OPENING:     And so we move into 1971 and the preparation of Hoar Cross hall so we could open it to the public by Easter. During the run up to buying the house my dad had been buying furniture, carpets and paintings like crazy and I remember our previous home being jam packed with chaise longues, sideboards and carved chests as well as all the suits of armour that he already had. This furniture was now set out in all the rooms. My mum’s collection of Victorian costumes were on display in the Ballroom as well as my dad’s collection of silver plated ‘display’ armour, which hung around the panelled walls; the suits of armour and the many painti...

Rags to Riches #14

Before we moved to Hoar Cross hall in Staffordshire we lived in Derbyshire.  My family originated from Derby and my parents were married there in July 1952. Mum was 19 and dad was 36 so quite a bit older. They both lived in Derby and were very arty; my dad went to the Derby Sketching Club in his free time and my mum attended art college. I’m not sure where they met but it was either at something art related or at a dance, as was usual in those days. My dad was a sculptor by trade; I think his interest was sparked by seeing all the beautiful alabaster in Italian churches during the war. After the war he set up his own business making alabaster lamps, bowls and...

The Kitchen Maid's Tale #41

If you were young, free and single – oh, and very well-to-do – the 1920s were the decade to be a part of. The upper classes had lots of time on their hands and enjoyed post-First World War delights such as the theatre and jazz clubs.Not so for the lower classes, in particular a young girl who was to become the kitchen maid at Hoar Cross hall in the 1920s. The ‘depression’ after the First World War brought stark poverty to her home and many like her. Her name was Jean Rennie, and she was extremely intelligent having won a scholarship to Glasgow University to study French and music. However, the £5 bursary she got (equivalent to around £250 in today's mo...

Motor Racing Days #9

MOTOR RACING DAYS:            Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s.   Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War and spent a lot of time in North Africa.  After the war he started racing at nearby Donington Park and he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s.  After that he moved onto cars and dr...

Motor Racing Days #9

MOTOR RACING DAYS:     Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s.   Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War and spent a lot of time in North Africa.  After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park and he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s.  After that he moved onto cars and d...