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DIY Stately Home #4

We moved into <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> during the summer holidays and my parents quickly realised they had a lot of work on their hands to make the place habitable as well as to earn some money from it. As previously mentioned, there was an East Wing and a West Wing to the house. My dad decided to convert the first floor rooms of each wing into three separate apartments; he had done this at our previous house. This would generate income from rents until we got the main house open to the public. It wasn’t a big job to convert the rooms as the East Wing had four main rooms and two bathrooms already there, which would have been used as guest bedrooms in Victorian times. H...

Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

Most stately homes have the obligatory hunting, shooting and fishing and <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> was no exception during the Meynell family’s time there. We didn't participate in any of these but, however, the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt used to meet locally to do a spot of fox hunting. They would all gather at different venues around the area and enjoy a drink before setting off. One of their usual places was the Meynell Ingram Arms Public House at the bottom of the village. In February 1972 they had their ‘meet’ at the <span class='highlight'>hallspan>. We, as the host family, got all dressed up to meet and greet them and local helpers served drinks, usually sherry. I had no interest in h...

Motor Racing Days #9

Although my blogs are about living at <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s. Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War and spent a lot of time in North Africa. After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park and he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s. After that he moved onto cars and drove a Cooper 500cc (which is the...

Suits you Sir! #22

When we moved to <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years. It was such a shame as it had been designed by George Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century. The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed. This chap really loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon! Alas, after removing all the pipes and laying them out in the baseme...

Gardeners' World at <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> #36

GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan>:       In it’s heyday <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener.   At <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden.  This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables and...

The Tax Man Cometh! #26

THE TAX MAN COMETH:      My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home of <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>. 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 quite a few 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 a...