Story Search Results

The ghost of Christmas past #73

...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...

Christmas High Jinks #87

...bout that day and the children made their way inside.   “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.” 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 side and lit the candles in there too.  Th...

Ghosts of Christmas Past #88

...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. The ghost on the stairs   “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 fo...

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...

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...

The Kitchen Maid's Story

...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. Duri...