Story Search Results

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #14

...in those days. Hugo Charles went on to marry Georgiana Pigou of London in 1819 and their eldest son Hugo Francis was the last of the descendants of Sir Arthur Ingram to inherit Temple Newsam. He married the Hon. Emily Charlotte, daughter of the 1st Viscount Halifax, in 1863 and together they built the present Hoar Cross Hall to be their family home. Old Hall   The Hall took nearly 10 years to build and was completed in 1871, although Hugo and Emily had already moved in before that. After their marriage they had lived at Old Hall while a temporary home was being built for them at Cross Hayes, between Yoxall and Hoar Cross. There they lived until the Hall...

Suits you Sir! #22

...ck in the day and I believe he did his training in the Tower of London - there are still modern armourers today who work for the military or the Police and look after all the weapons. My dad asked him to make reproduction pieces of armour and helmets so he could swap them with the real thing. The plan was that he would swap things over when my mum had gone out but as there were always banquet staff wandering around the house, that wasn’t possible. However, we hatched a plan! As we were always coming home in the early hours from parties, it seemed a good idea for us to swap the armour over in the dead of night whilst everyone else was in bed. This was actually...

The War Years and Beyond #39

...in those days never left the cities and towns where they lived and often didn’t know what a cow looked like in real life! To see all the lawns and woods at the Hall must have been incredible for them although I’m not sure if they were allowed to wander around the grounds. Two of these youngsters returned to the Hall in the mid-1980s and spoke to my mum about the kindness they received from the family. They also told her about the ‘secret airfield’ hidden away in a copse behind the ha-ha wall (the wall separating the bottom of the grounds and the deer park). Apparently aircraft were kept here in readiness for action, it being a Satellite Landing Ground...

Eat, Drink & Be Merry #11

...By 1973 we had been at Hoar Cross Hall for 3 years and our lives were always busy, by keeping on top of the weeds and with the general upkeep of the house. My dad expected us children to help as much as possible, which we hated, and much of our time was spent trying to hide from him to get out of doing the chores. But sometimes we didn’t mind and we happily pulled an old trolley into the woods every now and then to collect wood for the fires and sometimes as a family we would spend a day clearing parts of the woods and grounds. My mum had hired a lady from the village to help with the housework and we had also taken on a retired chap called Mr Hickman to do so...

Suits you Sir! #22

...ck in the day and I believe he did his training in the Tower of London - there are still modern armourers today who work for the military or the Police and look after all the weapons. My dad asked him to make reproduction pieces of armour and helmets so he could swap them with the real thing. The plan was that he would swap things over when my mum had gone out but as there were always banquet staff wandering around the house, that wasn’t possible. However, we came up with a cunning plan! As we were always coming home in the early hours from parties, it seemed a good idea for us to swap the armour over in the dead of night whilst everyone else was in bed. This...

The War Years and Beyond #36

...in those days never left the cities and towns where they lived and often didn’t know what a cow looked like in real life! To see all the lawns and woods at the Hall must have been incredible for them and no doubt they helped out with the vegetable patches! Two of these youngsters returned to the Hall in the mid-1980s and spoke to my mum about the kindness they received from the family. They also told her about the ‘secret airfield’ hidden away in a copse behind the Ha-Ha wall (the wall which separated the grounds from the deer park). Apparently aircraft were kept here in readiness for action, it being a Satellite Landing Ground (SLG) site serving Fradley...