Story Search Results

The Kitchen Maid's Story #36

...21st birthday – a lot of money in those days! On her return to the Hall she found that a new temporary cook had started. For the next four months her days were dominated by nagging and persecution, aided and abetted by the butler who joined in the game of baiting her. Cooks like this were typical of her kind – ‘trained with the whip’ – and Jenny found the working conditions difficult. However, leaving wasn’t easy as she lived at the Hall, all her belongings were there, her mother and sisters were all living and working a long way off and she also sent money home to her grandparents. She was also determined not to be beaten by the cook! Duck shoot...

Motor Racing days #9

...in those days it was completely different and much more ‘fun’, unlike more recent times where it has become a big money business. My dad didn’t have a rich family to support him or financial backers and probably did it all on a shoestring knowing him! He told me that he would always ‘take it easy’ and wasn’t too bothered about winning; drivers always got their ‘start’ money and he was satisfied with that. Accidents meant expensive repairs! My dad as a despatch rider - WW2 in Africa   During the 1960s he raced Lotus Elites and I have never forgotten the time, aged just 5 years old, when he took me for a spin around Mallory Park. I remembe...

The Tax Man Cometh #29

...My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home, Hoar Cross Hall. In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in. He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventually found a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of a lot of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite. He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office. Back in those days they used to check advertisements in the newspapers and...

A Christmas Haunting! #34

...e. A few days later Viv and Gavin were rummaging through the dressing up box trying to find Christmas outfits – they wanted to dress their little brother Piers up in Victorian clothes. Their mother was helping them and they had a lot of fun pretending to be different characters. That evening there was a knock on the lounge door upstairs and their mother, Gwynyth, opened it to see a small child standing there. “Is that you Piers?” she asked in astonishment. She thought the children had dressed him up again for a joke. “Get back to bed, it’s really late!” The child ran down the bedroom corridor and Gwynyth followed but soon lost sight of him as the...

Motor Racing days #64

...in those days it was completely different and much more ‘fun’, unlike more recent times where it has become a big money business.  My dad didn’t have a rich family to support him or financial backers and probably did it all on a shoestring knowing him!  He told me that he would always ‘take it easy’ and wasn’t too bothered about winning; drivers always got their ‘start’ money (a sum of money for entering the race) and he was satisfied with that.  Accidents meant expensive repairs! My dad as a despatch rider in WW2   During the 1960s he raced Lotus Elites and I have never forgotten the time, aged just 5 years old, when he took me for a...

Christmas High Jinks #72

...bout that day and the children made their way inside. The altar in the church   “Gosh it’s so gloomy in here,” said Gavin.  “I don’t know why people want to visit this place – there’s nothing to do or see in here.” They wandered down the aisle looking at leaflets on the way.  When they got to the altar they noticed two enormous candles at each end of it. “Let’s light the candles,” Gavin shouted.  “That will brighten the place up.”  With that he climbed up onto the altar, found some matches nearby and quickly lit the two candles.  They noticed some other candles nearby and lit them.  Then they saw a small chapel to one s...