Story Search Results

Here comes the bride (Part 1) #30

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1)   Our wedding preparations were going quite well.  As we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local band and a DJ to do the disco.  A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering and the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent.  I had two bridesmaids and we all went to Birmingham one day to choose our dresses and shoes – it was all kept very simple really as I had no help or advice from my mum as most brides do.   Kev’s parents had eloped after the war and got married in a register office with two witnesses dragged off the street, so they had no idea what you did to pla...

The Grand Opening #5

THE GRAND OPENING:        And so we move into 1971 and the preparation of the 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 pai...

Here comes the Bride (Part 1) # 30

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1):    Now that my dad was having to move out of the Hall we had decided to bring our wedding forward so that we could get married in the church in the grounds and then have the reception afterwards in the Hall, which was after all our family home.  The wedding preparations were going quite well and as we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local band and a DJ to do the disco.  A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering and the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent.  I had two bridesmaids and we all went to Birmingham one day to choose our dresses and shoes – it was all...

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 ma...

Calendar Girls and Front Covers #7

CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS:        During our time at Hoar Cross Hall people would occasionally hire the house for a day’s filming or whatever.   During the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day and he brought two models with him, one English and one German, and they were taking photos for a glamour calendar.  We were told to keep right out of the way as they were taking photos in the gardens as well as the house.  Naturally we wanted to see everything that was going on and my younger brother Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings!  We m...

The Tax Man Cometh! #28

THE TAX MAN COMETH:       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 adverti...