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Moving house to a mansion #1
Posted by Viv Wilson on 1st September 2019 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | meynell,hoar cross hall,Oliver Twist,uttoxeter,chester zoo,donington park
MOVING HOUSE TO A MANSION: My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months. We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there! Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child. My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donington Park. During the...
The War Years and Beyond #38
Posted by Viv Wilson on 8th July 2019 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,Meynell,Hollybush Park,Burton General Hospital,F W Lycett,Fradley aerodrome,Second world war,first world war,Lichfield
THE WAR YEARS AND BEYOND: During the Second World War, life in country houses changed dramatically. It was no different at Hoar Cross. The flower borders on the main lawns were turfed over to reduce maintenance and vegetables were grown in areas formerly restricted to flowers. Evacuees from Birmingham came to stay for the duration of the war and they lived in the basement, as it was considered to be the safest place. I imagine that they must have been in the care of the servants as they were living amongst them but it must also have been quite exciting for them to move from a bombed out city to the relative safety of the countryside, althoug...
Midnight Pool Parties #20
Posted by Viv Wilson on 26th October 2020 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,Meynell,76 Club,Sex Pistols,Police,Drug squad,ghost,Frank Sinatra
MIDNIGHT POOL PARTIES: After leaving school I spent a year at Burton-on-Trent Technical College studying to be a secretary but my year at college had come to an end - now to find a job! It didn’t take too long as there was plenty of employment around in those days and I was soon offered a position with a small engineering firm in Burton. As I didn’t drive there was still the problem of me getting to work and dad managed to talk the residents of the apartments into taking me, as they were going to Burton every day as well, and it would save him coming out twice a day (no doubt he was thinking about the petrol he would save too!)
Kev and the band were...The War Years and Beyond #40
Posted by Viv Wilson on 14th March 2021 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,Meynell,fradley aerodrome,first world war,second world war,Auxiliary Red Cross Hospital,Hollybush Park,monks
THE WAR YEARS AND BEYOND: During the Second World War, life in country houses changed dramatically. It was no different at Hoar Cross. The flower borders on the main lawns were turfed over to reduce maintenance and vegetables were grown in areas formerly restricted to flowers. Evacuees from Birmingham came to stay for the duration of the war and they lived in the basement, as it was considered to be the safest place. I imagine that they must have been in the care of the servants as they were living amongst them but it must also have been quite exciting for them to move from a bombed out city to the relative safety of the countryside, although they must ha...
The Kitchen Maid's Story #36
Posted by Viv Wilson on 23rd January 2022 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,Meynell,Highlands,Scotland,French,Rolls Royce,Laughton
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 was taken by her father and used to buy...
The Tax Man Cometh #29
Posted by Viv Wilson on 18th November 2022 in Blogging | hoar cross hall,Meynell,duchy of cornwall,The Crown,The Church of the Holy Angels,Meynell Ingram Arms,Knighthood,Lotus Elite,british aristocracy,lord and lady,stately home,mansion,staffordshire,history,ghosts,ghost stories,spa hotel,mediaeval,antiques,suit of armour,hoar cross hall spa,stately home tour,manor house,abandoned mansion,abandoned mansion uk,derelict mansion,abandoned millionaire mansion,downton abbey a new era,stately homes of england,stately home where I grew up,My Dad Bought a Mansion,lady diana,the crown season 5 netflix uk,royal household,the tax man
My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home, Hoar Cross Hall. In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in. He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventually found a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of a lot of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite. He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office. Back in those days they used to check advertisements in the newspapers and...