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Midnight Pool Parties #20

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 were...

Midnight Pool Parties #21

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 the seventies 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 our 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, my boyfriend, and the band were getting a fe...

Coming Of Age #21

COMING OF AGE:  My year at college had come to an end and I was now a fully fledged secretary.  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!  Kev and the band were getting a few gigs around the area and after singing with them for a little while I gave it up and let a more professional singer ta...

Moving On #33

MOVING ON - And so we come to the end of my story.  My dad and Gavin moved out to live in burton and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years.  She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin.  He spent a lot more time at the Hall helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him.  When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Piers – he had run away from home and was ringing from the phone box by the Meynell Arms car park!  He told my dad that he was hiding behind a bush and could he come and get him.  Of course, my dad was only too happy to fetch him and get...

Moving Out #32

MOVING OUT:       And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave the Hall.  Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone.  Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time.  It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement.  He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms.  He had bought a house in nearby burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to st...

Moving Out #32

And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave Hoar Cross Hall. Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone. Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time. It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement. He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms. He had bought a house in nearby burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start afresh. He carried o...