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My Dad Bought a Mansion #1

MY DAD BOUGHT A MANSION!    It was the summer of 1970, Mungo Jerry was at the top of the hit parade <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> we were about to move house. But not to any old house – to a 70 roomed mansion in 20 acres of grounds! For years my dad had collected antiques, ever since he was a young boy of 12, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> it was his dream to own a large house where he could put them on show to the general public. In the 1970s he owned the largest private collection of arms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> armour in the country <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> his dream was about to be realised; but little did we know what a nightmare would unfold before us. Hoar Cross Hall was the home of the Meynell Ingram family who originated from Leicestershir...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #11

It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets. All the cast would come round to the house each week for rehearsals <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> my mum <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> blouses for the wenches. My mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a King, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> various wenches <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> so we all gathered at the Hall one day in ea...

A New Year Calamity! #75

The New Year’s Eve Ball at Hoar Cross Hall was usually the highlight of the year.  After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party.  In those days it was always black tie for the men <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>, disco <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a meal.  At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes.  Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> into the Ballr...

The Gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Opening #5

<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> so we move into 1971 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> paintings like crazy <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> I remember our previous home being jam packed with chaise longues, sideboards <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the many paintings they had lined the Lon...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

MY DAD BOUGHT A MANSION!    It was the summer of 1970, Mungo Jerry was at the top of the hit parade <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> we were about to move house.  But not to any old house – to a 70 roomed mansion in 20 acres of grounds!  For years my dad had collected antiques, ever since he was a young boy of 12, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> it was his dream to own a large house where he could put them on show to the general public.  In the 1970s he owned the largest private collection of arms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> armour in the country <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> his dream was about to be realised; but little did we know what a nightmare would unfold before us. Hoar Cross Hall was the home of the Meynell Ingram family who originated from Leiceste...

Whodunit in the Library? #24

WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY?      When we first moved to Hoar Cross Hall, growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> lots of fun if you’re a child. This rambling old house full of empty rooms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> secret doors, wild gardens <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad. But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> lack of public transport was frustrating. Coupled with this was my parents fighting <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> subsequent split, living at each end of the house <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> battling for the house <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who perhaps s...