Story Search Results

Moving house to a mansion #1

MOVING HOUSE TO A MANSION:       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...

More tea vicar? #12

...lways had lots of interesting stories to tell.  The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring antiques to re-sell.  He had one of the field phones in his workshop and the other one was in our kitchen at the opposite end of the house.  To operate them you would wind a handle on the side and a bell would ring on the phone at the other end.  This was how my parents communicated especially when my mum wanted to tell my dad the dinner was ready!   But we also had fun playing with them too and would often ring each other up or call my mum from the basement. In the grounds was The Church of the Holy Angels. �...

Queen Alexandra - my family #50

...there are lots of photos of them together as a family travelling around Denmark and Norway. Towards the end of the album is a picture of 'the Nimrod' setting sail for the south pole in 1907 with Captain Earnest Shackleton at the helm, after being inspected by King Edward and Queen Alexandra. Such historic photographs are priceless but especially so when taken by royalty. I hope you enjoy them and the history behind them as much as I did! As we lead up to the Coronation I will be doing weekly blogs complete with a number of photos from the album showing members of the Royal Family around the turn of the 20th century, along with a bit of history about each photo...

Hysterical Productions! #13

...here were lots of funny things that happened.  Myra (the fire-eater’s wife) and I always did the cloakroom and one time this lady took her coat off and as she did so her halter neck top came undone and she stood there wearing nothing but a smile and skirt for all to see!    The banquet menu - all 7 courses!    Once the banquets started we would join in with the singing, even standing behind the main act and pretending to be the backing group.  Another member of the cast would wear a sombrero and shake maracas to a Latin song while we threw petals all over him – don’t ask me why!  The next day, when cleaning up, we would find all sorts of thi...

The graveyard shift #24

...ainly had lots of fun in those days, as a lot of the customers were quintessentially English and the local gentry were quite eccentric  – even to the point of one gent bringing a horse into the pub one lunchtime and standing with it in the bar while he sipped his G & T !   Only in rural England!   Don’t miss next week’s exciting instalment:  Whodunit in the Library? If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.  ...

Whodunit in the Library? #25

...WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY?       When we first moved to Hoar Cross Hall, growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child.  This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad.  But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating.  Coupled with this was my parents fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who p...