Story Search Results

Skools out for summer #16

...re in the summer and we would sometimes play there as they had lots of climbing frames and slides which made our summer holidays much more fun!  The private road also joined up to our woods near the driveway and this is the road I walked along every day, up to the main road, to catch the bus to school. It was about half a mile but I hated walking through the woods, especially in the winter when the mornings were darker. I was growing up now and keeping different secrets from my parents than the previous escapades with my brothers, Gavin and Piers; I had started smoking! Going into Uttoxeter every day meant I could buy cigarettes for 30p a pack and smoke them o...

Skools out for summer #13

...re in the summer and we would sometimes play there as they had lots of climbing frames and slides. At one of the fetes I was standing next to a crockery smashing stall and a piece of crockery cut my head open causing a huge gash. I ran all the way home screaming and crying with blood pouring down my face – no-one could stop me – and was taken to the nearby hospital to have it stitched up. I still have a huge scar from that cut but luckily no-one can see it! The private road also joined up to our woods near the driveway and this is the road I walked along every day, up to the main road, to catch the bus to school. It was about half a mile but I hated walking...

Skools out for summer! #58

...re in the summer and we would sometimes play there as they had lots of climbing frames and slides. At one of the fetes I was standing next to a crockery smashing stall and a piece of crockery cut my head open causing a huge gash. I ran all the way home screaming and crying with blood pouring down my face – no-one could stop me – and was taken to the nearby hospital to have it stitched up. I still have a huge scar from that cut but luckily no-one can see it! Old Hall - the childrens home is on the right   The private road also joined up to our woods near the driveway and this is the road I walked along every day, up to the main road, to catch the bus...

Moving Into a Mansion #67

...As summer turns to autumn my thoughts have gone back in time to 1970 when my family moved house at this time of the year - not to any old house, but to a 70-roomed stately home in Staffordshire!  The whole process of moving  was done over the summer months as we lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there!  Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child.  My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1...

Calendar Girls and Front Covers #7

...CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS: Occasionally people would hire the Hall and during the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day.  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 Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings!  We managed to find all sorts of hiding places eventually settling in our attic room to keep tabs on everyt...

Moving in - to a stately home! #2

...MOVING IN -  TO A STATELY HOME!   My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months. We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there! Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child. My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donington Park. During the 1960s h...