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See you in Court #27

SEE YOU IN COURT:     The saga of my parents’ split continued as we grew up in our stately home, although their behaviour was anything but stately for most of the time!  Seven years of arguing and fighting were about to come to an end and the solicitors had finally agreed on a  date to go to court.  We carried on helping my dad to run the Hall and he still went to his boat in Caernarfon at weekends to get away from the house but we were all getting weary of it now.  We were young adults and wanting to get on with our own lives.  After five years together we were hoping to get married at some point so we were glad that it was finally going to be sorted...

Moving Out #31

...ent to an auction at a large farmhouse that was quite local to us and because of the interesting ‘lots’ it had, quite a few of our well-to-do friends were there too. My dad was also there and told us he’d bought an oven for our new house. He couldn’t wait to tell us that it had only cost him £1. Even in those days £1 was ridiculously cheap, especially for an oven! He said it was in one of the outbuildings so we didn’t actually see it until the end of the auction. By then my dad had gone home so we set off to find our oven, congratulating ourselves on getting such a bargain. But when we saw it standing in the corner of a shed covered in cobwebs and fu...

See you in Court #31

...SEE YOU IN COURT:     The saga of my parents’ split continued as we grew up in our stately home, although their behaviour was anything but stately for most of the time! Seven years of arguing and fighting were about to come to an end and the solicitors had finally agreed on a date to go to court. We carried on helping my dad to run the Hall and he still went to his boat in Caernarfon at weekends to get away from the house but we were all getting weary of it now. We were young adults and wanting to get on with our own lives. After five years together we were hoping to get married at some point so we were glad that it was finally going to be sorted out one wa...

Moving Out #29

...ent to an auction at a large farmhouse that was quite local to us and because of the interesting ‘lots’ it had, quite a few of our well-to-do friends were there too. My dad was also there and told us he’d bought an oven for our new house. He couldn’t wait to tell us that it had only cost him £1. Even in those days £1 was ridiculously cheap, especially for an oven! He said it was in one of the outbuildings so we didn’t actually see it until the end of the auction. By then my dad had gone home so we set off to find our oven, congratulating ourselves on getting such a bargain. But when we saw it standing in the corner of a shed covered in cobwebs and fu...

THE GRAND OPENING #5

...bought at auction showed off smaller items. The biggest excitement though was seeing our house advertised on the local TV channel!  The Ball Room The Damask Room was turned into Lady Dorothy’s Boudoir complete with an 18th century four poster bed, an original bed complete with canopy and hanging curtains slept in by aristocrats throughout the centuries.  I used to love lying on the bed with the curtains closed imagining myself in another era – once I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.  When I awoke and climbed out from behind the drapes it was to a roomful of visitors staring open mouthed at me! In another room my dad had his racing car surrounde...

MOTOR RACING DAYS #9

...etc from auction houses and we would pack this up and go off for the weekend.  Gavin and I would sit on chairs in the back of the van and every time we went round a corner our chairs would tip over to the side and we’d be hanging on for dear life – my mum would sit in the front with Piers on her knee!  No seatbelts then or child seats – I dread to think how we would have survived an accident!  My dad would always get passes for the Paddock which was the area where all the racing car teams were next to the pits and only a privileged few would have these.  At Silverstone there was a place called the Doghouse Club (long gone now) off the Paddock where th...