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Moving Out#32

MOVING OUT:    And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave the Hall.  Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone.  Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time.  It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement.  He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms.  He had bought a house in nearby Burton on Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start a...

Moving On #33

MOVING ON - And so we come to the end of my story.  My dad and Gavin moved out to live in Burton and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years.  She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin.  He spent a lot more time at the Hall helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him.  When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Piers – he had run away from home and was ringing from the phone box by the Meynell Arms car park!  He told my dad that he was hiding behind a bush and could he come and get him.  Of course, my dad was only too happy to fetch him and get...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross

GARdENERS’  WORLd AT  HOAR CROSS:         In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall 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 Hoar Cross 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 a...

Things that go bump in the night! #3

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!        Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!!  That first winter at the Hall was like that.  Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake.  The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose.   They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years.  I remember standing there in the attic rooms, the hairs prickling the back of my neck and quickly legging it back downstairs!  On other nights I would h...

More Tea Vicar? #13

MORE TEA VICAR?         Life at Hoar Cross Hall was always busy but during the long summer holidays it was easy to get bored.  As there was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no other families living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like the Famous Five but without a dog!  We would roam around the village or explore the basement.  My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2.  The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring...

Hysterical Productions #17

HYSTERICAL PROdUCTIONS:           By the end of 1974 we had done about 40 banquets at the 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, whereas when we first started, we had a catering firm in to do it all.  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 be...