Story Search Results

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #57

...in those days! Emily Meynell's sister-in-law, Lady Mary wanted to organize an eighteenth birthday and 'coming out' Ball in 1912 for her daughter, Daisy. A Ball at the Ritz in London would have cost at least £600 so Lady Mary (now a widow) decided to hold a little dance for eight or more people at home. This was in a house in Surrey as they had moved out of the Hall by this time and had been living a more simple life. With the help of “a good cook and kind friends” the function cost exactly £50 and was enjoyed by all who attended. It just goes to show that great expense doesn't necessarily mean more enjoyment! Although the Meynells' held a lot of social...

Lest we forget #86

...would one day own Hugo's house!  After North Africa he moved to Italy and spent a lot of time in Bari and Naples eventually moving up towards Belgium.  He kept diaries of his time during the war and the one I have is from 1944-45 when the war ended and he was finally demobbed in January 1946 and safely home.  It makes fascinating reading of another time when the future was so uncertain, not unlike today with  the war in Ukraine and other places around the world.  Most days my dad is writing about how much he misses home and his sweetheart, Winnie, who he constantly writes to.  He was studying art and wonders when, or if, he will continue with it after the...

Becoming A Rock Chick! #17

...BECOMING A ROCK CHICK:  My schooldays were coming to an end now and I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave.  The school itself was an old Victorian grammar school which still had wooden desks with inkwells in them!  Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns, not like the ones at Eton and Harrow – mine were more like the ones in the Beano!  However, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go into Uttoxeter every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local JCB firm.  They were all into motor bikes and one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’.  They also went to a lot of concerts...

Suits You Sir! #23

...ck in the day and I believe he did his training in the Tower of London - there are still armourers today who work for the military or the Police and look after all the modern weapons. My dad asked him to make reproduction pieces of armour and helmets so he could swap them with the real thing.  The plan was that he would swap things over when my mum had gone out but as there were always banquet staff wandering around the house, that wasn’t possible.  However, we came up with a cunning plan!  As we were always coming home in the early hours from parties, it seemed a good idea for us to swap the armour over in the dead of night whilst everyone else was in bed....

Motor Racing days #9

...in those days it was completely different and much more ‘fun’, unlike more recent times where it has become a big money business.  My dad didn’t have a rich family to support him or financial backers and probably did it all on a shoestring knowing him!  He told me that he would always ‘take it easy’ and wasn’t too bothered about winning; drivers always got their ‘start’ money and he was satisfied with that.  Accidents meant expensive repairs! During the 1960s he raced Lotus Elites and I have never forgotten the time, aged just 5 years old, when he took me for a spin around Mallory Park.  I remember it all very clearly, even now.  He strapp...

Midnight pool parties #22

...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...