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Ghostbusters #8

GHOSTBUSTERS! Later on in the year of 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms.  Rather them than me I thought!  Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell Gavin all about it.  As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants.  Before the men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which.  We found that one of the bell pulls in the Chase Dressing Room made one of the bells in th...

Ghostbusters! #8

GHOSTBUSTERS!      People were always coming to the Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around.  In 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms.  Rather them than me I thought!  Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it.  As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants.  Before the two men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which....

Things that go bump in the night #3

...the male servants had lived and some of the higher level female servants. The rooms were all empty and quite dark on one side with just grills to let in the light. On the other side was a dry moat which let in more light through proper windows but it still seemed very gloomy and, although we liked to explore the rooms, we didn't hang about there much – especially when we found out that the old butler haunted these rooms! In fact, I actually saw him on one occasion a few years later. The gloomy basement corridor   Many people that stayed overnight at the Hall also heard these and other noises and in the ensuing years we were to experience many ghostly...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #11

...hose poor servants did 100 years before! Apparently they had to get up at 5am to polish the floors before Lady Dorothy came downstairs at 9am.   The King arrives with his entourage!   During December we always had the banquets on a Friday and Saturday night to accommodate Christmas parties, which were many. It was hard work and the house took a bit of a bashing with all those people coming in every week. On top of that, we had to clear away all the tables and benches to get the house ready for the annual New Years’ Eve Ball. They all had to be carried down to the basement and the cast would come round to help – they were a good bunch of people and...

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #57

...Balls and functions held at Hoar Cross Hall were lavish affairs, especially before the First World War, with the catering and other services invariably being provided by premier London companies.  Tea dances became popular in the 1880s but Balls with a supper included were also very popular amongst the aristocracy, especially if it was a 'coming out' Ball.  In 1907, Gunter & Co of Berkeley Square, London, could supply a Ball supper and refreshments for ten shillings (50p) a head, plus 'extra services'. For a Ball Supper in January 1913, Mayfair Catering, Grosvenor Square, assured Lady Mary Meynell that they had engaged 'a superior staff of tall waiters'...

The Library #69

...y used by servants to enter the room unobtrusively  (see header picture - its to the left of the fireplace in the corner). Christmas Day in the Library   In days gone by many old houses had secret doors and passages, usually for looks as I mentioned, and also for servants to enter rooms unobserved but also for people to get away quickly from a dangerous situation.  Sometimes secret rooms were made, such as priests holes, to hide people from danger and we’ve all heard about smugglers tunnels going from a house or pub to the nearby beach to sneak in contraband or thieves evading the law! However, nothing so exciting at our house!  But my brother and...