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The Tax Man Cometh! #28

THE TAX MAN COMETH:       My parents’ court case was finally over <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 adverti...

The Tax Man Cometh! #26

THE TAX MAN COMETH:      My parents’ court case was finally over <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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...

An Edwardian Schoolroom Maid #40

For the first 75 years of Hoar Cross Hall’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> grounds. Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid. Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> she had connections to Hoar Cross through her gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>-parents, William <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house. He had worked on the ironwork of the Hall during its construction in the 1860s. Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the l<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>lord at the Buffalo Inn, in nearby Newborough, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> it was through her...

Race Day Parties! #25

My dad used to be a racing driver so he was often invited to parties <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> open days at various racing circuits. He naturally knew lots of racing people <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> on this particular occasion he was invited to an Open Day at Donington Park. Tom Wheatcroft, a local entrepreneur, had bought Donington Park in the 1970s as he owned the largest collection of Gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Prix cars in the world at that time. In 1973 he opened a museum there to house them all <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> called it the Donington Gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Prix Exhibition.  This sadly closed in 2018. Donington became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championships but he was really hoping to bring Formula 1 racing b...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #36

For the first 75 years of Hoar Cross Hall’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> grounds. Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid. Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> she had connections to Hoar Cross through her gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>-parents, William <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house. He had worked on the ironwork of the Hall during its construction in the 1860s. Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the l<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>lord at the Buffalo Inn, in nearby Newborough, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> it was through her...

Behind the green baize door #47

"The green baize door - dividing line betwix servant <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> master.” All stately homes had at least one green baize door <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Hoar Cross Hall was no different. This was the door used by the servants to access the main part of the house unobtrusively <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> silently so they could go about their work without disturbing the family. The Hall had a spiral staircase at each end of the house for the servants to use <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the green baize door on the ground floor opened onto the Garden Corridor which led to the Chapel <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the main house, as well as the garden. The green baize door on the first floor opened onto the east wing corridor <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> guest bedrooms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> from this corridor t...