Story Search Results

Ghouls Galore!

GHOULS  GALORE!    One of the great things about living in a stately home is that you can have a wild party with the loudest of music – and no-one will hear it!  I was now going out with Kev, whom I had met at college.  Mum was a bit disappointed that my sensible boyfriend and I had parted company after 18 months of an on/off relationship but she accepted Kev into the fold and eventually met all the other members of the band.  I think she wanted to put her mind at rest that they were a bunch of nice lads and not a drug crazed rock band eating bats!  Which of course they were! No – I’m only kidding!  After the awful split up at Christmas my parents...

Ghouls Galore! #17

GHOULS GALORE!    One of the great things about living in a stately home is that you can have a wild party with the loudest of music – and no-one will hear it! I was now going out with Kev, whom I had met at college. Mum was a bit disappointed that my sensible boyfriend and I had parted company after 18 months of an on/off relationship but she accepted Kev into the fold and eventually met all the other members of the band. I think she wanted to put her mind at rest that they were a bunch of nice lads and not a drug crazed rock band eating bats! Which of course they were! No – I’m only kidding! After the awful split up at Christmas my parents were now liv...

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 Hoar Cross Hall. 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...

Our mansion gets a facelift #4

OUR MANSION GETS A FACELIFT! We moved into Hoar Cross Hall during the summer holidays and my parents quickly realised that 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 g...

The Tax Man Cometh! #26

My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home, Hoar Cross Hall. 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 a lot 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 advertisements in the newspapers and...

The origins of the stately home #43

So why are stately homes so called? Stately home actually means 'a large impressive old house with interesting history and usually visited by the public.' Well, I suppose they do look very 'stately' for a start but these houses were also a status symbol for the great families of England, who competed with each other to provide hospitality for the royal household who would travel around England meeting their subjects. Stately homes were huge mansions which were always beautiful and the epitome of perfect architecture, often designed by famous architects of the day. The gardens too would be perfectly landscaped to show balance, variety, sequence and colour. One o...