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Hoar Cross HAll - a bit of history #17

If you love to read up on the history of old houses then you'll love to hear about All the generations of people that lived at Hoar Cross HAll.  Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers. The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross. This was quite a large house built on a hill near YoxAll (which is the village next to Hoar Cross). In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000. EventuAlly it was sold t...

Rags to Riches #63

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. My parents on their wedding day - 1952   After the Second World War he set up his own business making alabaster lamps, bowls and candles...

The ghost of Christmas past #73

Another Christmas story in the run up to the festive season - it may send a shiver down your spine! (Based on true stories) The typewriter keys clattered away as Viv wrote her story.  It was coming along nicely and she was feeling pleased with herself.  The attic room that she and her brothers had made into their ‘den’ was ideal for getting away from Everybody and having some peace and quiet and she quite forgot about the time as she lost herself in the plot.  Suddenly she looked up and realized how dark it was getting; the December nights were pulling in and it was already quite dusky by 3.30pm.  Quickly she packed her books and folders away and prepar...

The Graveyard Shift! #25

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT!       Life carried on at the HAll as best it could in difficult circumstances.  My dad continued to go to Arms and Armour Fairs to buy and sell antiques and we also went to a mediaeval banquet in Cheshire one night, although it wasn’t anywhere near as good as ours!  Once or twice we took my dad out with our friends to Derby, where he originated from, and that seemed to cheer him up.  But he reAlly needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time and when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he jumped at the chance and bought it.  It was an ex lifeboat cAlled The Bembo so quite sturdy, although in need of a li...

Here comes the Bride (Part 2) #31

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 2):        And so our wedding day arrived bright and clear, All thoughts of solicitors, legals, fights and arrests behind us!   Myself and my bridesmaids went to get our hair done in the morning and Kev slapped a piece of steak on his jaw to bring the swelling down after the rather unfortunate fight at his stag do.  Fortunately, the bruise didn’t show up too much on the photos!  Gavin drove my dad’s Mercedes Benz car All the way down the drive and back up the road to the church – this was one of the drawbacks of having a church in your grounds; you don’t get to drive All through the town with Everyone looking at you! ...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #36

GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  HOAR CROSS:       In it’s heyday Hoar Cross HAll had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England the most common of All male servants was the gardener.   At Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a wAlled kitchen garden.  This supplied the house with All its fruit, vegetables and...