Story Search Results

Ghostbusters! #8

GHOSTBUSTERS!       People were always coming to Hoar Cross Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around.  In 1973, because of all the media interest in our ghosts, we had a couple of professional ghost hunters asking to stay over one night to try and find the source of the noises.  They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms.  Rather them than me I thought!  Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it.  As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants.  Before the three men arrived we spent all...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life Below Stairs #35

...acy. The basement rooms were where most of the staff spent much of their time. The large kitchen with its open fireplace was surrounded by the scullery, larders for meat, game and fish, dairy products, and the cook’s own sitting room. Along from the servants hall (where they all ate their meals) was the butler’s pantry and plate room and the butler’s bedroom. The plate room was where all the silver plate was kept and it was the butler’s job to look after it, even having his bedroom next to the plate room so it was always under guard, especially at night. There was also a wall safe to keep valuables in and next to the wine cellar was a Chubb walk-in safe...

THE RENOVATIONS BEGIN #4

...rough the basement entrance and used the spiral staircases to get to their homes – so they were a bit like the servants of old, neither seen nor heard by us! The next change to make was to our own rooms so we could move downstairs and have a bigger kitchen.  The only space was in the East Wing off the Chapel Corridor – yes, this house boasted its own chapel which the family and servants used every morning for prayers at 9am sharp.  There was a Damask Room, a Hessian Room and Hugo Meynell’s old bedroom and dressing room.  This was where he lived after his riding accident which had left him an invalid.  There was a large wooden board from the window sil...

Ghostbusters #8

...GHOSTBUSTERS! Later on in the year of 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms.  Rather them than me I thought!  Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell Gavin all about it.  As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants.  Before the men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which.  We found that one of the bell pulls in the Chase Dressing Room made one of the bells in th...

Reburbishing our Mansion #4

...rough the basement entrance and used the spiral staircases to get to their homes – so they were a bit like the servants of old, neither seen nor heard by us! The next change to make was to our own rooms so we could move downstairs and have a bigger kitchen.  The only space was in the East Wing off the Chapel corridor – yes, this house boasted its own chapel which the Meynell family and their servants used every morning for prayers at 9am sharp.  There was a Damask Room, a Hessian Room and Hugo Meynell’s old bedroom and dressing room.  This was where he lived after his riding accident which had left him an invalid.  There was a large wooden board from...

Ghostbusters! #8

...GHOSTBUSTERS!      People were always coming to the Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around.  In 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms.  Rather them than me I thought!  Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it.  As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants.  Before the two men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which....