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Eat, drink and be merry! #10

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY!       It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets when the cast would come round to the house each week to practice their routines. My mum and one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts and blouses for the wenches; my mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a king, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist and various wenches and serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before and...

The Halifax Estates - Garrowby #46

...visit Buckingham Palace and play with Princesses Victoria, Helena and Louise, Queen Victoria's daughters. This is obviously how she became connected to the royal family and would in later years host king George V and Queen Mary at Temple Newsam and Hoar Cross Hall. In 2005 Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed with Lord Halifax at Garrowby when Royal Ascot was moved to York. Lord James Irwin is also the godson of Camilla, the Queen Consort so there are many royal connections between these two families right up to the present day. Hickleton Hall on the Halifax Estates   Garrowby is the largest of the Halifax Estates and extends to over 13,000...

Hysterical Productions #16

...By the end of 1974 we had done about 40 banquets at Hoar Cross Hall and they were still going strong. Most of the original cast were still with us but we were on our second king now and also doing our own catering and bar, instead of an outside firm coming in.  Every weekend over 200 people came to sample our Noble Brose, Roast Lambe and Saracen’s Delight and sing along to ‘I’m Henry VIII’ whilst drinking beer, wine and mead. But it was a very adult environment for 15 year old girls to work in; a few of my school friends also worked at the banquets as wenches and we were constantly being chatted up by men who bought us drinks all evening (even though w...

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...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #13

...It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets. All the cast would come round to the house each week for rehearsals and my mum and one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts and blouses for the wenches. My mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a king, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist and various wenches and serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before and so we all gathered at the Hall one day in ea...

The Graveyard Shift #23

...ance of making me go as well so she could keep me away from Kev, but after a couple of times on my own Kev decided to come along too, and was able to help fix the electrics on the boat amongst other things. Caernarvon Castle in the 1970s   When my dad went away at weekends during the summer months Kev and I would open the house to the public. As well as a bad atmosphere between my parents there was also a bad atmosphere between me and my mum and mum and Kev, so we were all trying to avoid each other! My mum had taken over the West Wing apartment when the tenants left, leaving my dad with one less rental income. She was also putting Yale locks on all the...