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The Kitchen Maid's Story #37

THE KITCHEN MAID’S STORY:    If you were young, free <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> single – oh, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> very well-to-do – the 1920s were the decade to be a part of. The upper classes had lots of time on their h<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>s <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> enjoyed post-First World War delights such as the theatre <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> jazz clubs. Not so for the lower classes, in particular a young girl who was to become the kitchen maid at Hoar Cross Hall in the 1920s. The ‘depression’ after the First World War brought stark poverty to her home <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> many like her. Her name was Jean Rennie, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> she was extremely intelligent having won a scholarship to Glasgow University to study French <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> music. However, the £5 bursary she got was ta...

To the Manor Born #77

Before we moved to Hoar Cross Hall my father had bought an old manor house in the village of Shardlow, near Derby, which had previously been a vicarage among other things.  I think my parents must have had a love of historic buildings <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> indeed were members of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Monuments.  My dad had a business in Derby at the time making alabaster items such as table lamps <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> c<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>lestick holders <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> when he bought the manor house he moved his business there, as it had lots of outbuildings for all the alabaster equipment. Some of my father's alabaster pieces   The house itself had about 17 rooms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> was built i...

NEW YEAR JINKS #26

NEW YEAR JINKS The New Year’s Eve Balls were usually the highlight of the year.  After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party.  In those days it was always black tie for the men <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>, disco <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a meal.  At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes.  Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> into the Ballroom  with hi...

Moving in - to a stately home! #2

MOVING IN -  TO A STATELY HOME!   My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donington Park. During the 1960s h...

Moving Out#32

MOVING OUT:    <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> there he moved to start a...

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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> find the source of the noises. They brought cases full of recording equipment <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> set it all up in one of the attic rooms. Rather them than me I thought! Then I had a brilliant idea <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it. As mentioned in my first blog the attic <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants. Before the three men arrived we spent all day trying out all t...