Story Search Results

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #32

...hen Emily got married in 1863 she took the mirror with her to her new home, Hoar Cross Hall, and there it hung over the fireplace in the Library for many decades until the Meynells left in the 1950s. And so herein lies the connection between Alice and the Hall! Fast forward to the 1990s when Hoar Cross Hall had a new owner, Steve Joynes. He converted the Hall into a Spa Hotel and managed to source a lot of the original furniture from the Victorian era when Emily Meynell lived there with her husband, Hugo. He found the original mirror which came from Hickleton Hall and now it hangs over the fireplace in the Library, just as it did all those years ago. But it se...

What the Butler Saw! #37

...when they got home. I can hear all the giggling even now! The highlight of the year for most girls was an eagerly-awaited dance at the Servants’ Ball at Christmas time – most large houses had one and Hoar Cross Hall was no different. The Ball was held in the Long Gallery and this was the one time when the family mixed with the servants. With mulled wine flowing freely and mistletoe hung here about, the young ladies would be very excited to be standing near to a young, good looking footman!  But it wasn't just the young ladies of the house - the story goes that when the butler went down to the wine cellar to fetch more wine for the party, he heard a lot of...

Things that go bump in the night #3

...aybe he'd got lost?  But no!  My brothers were running around looking for me quite unaware of the woeful weeping.  Needless to say I never went in the basement much after that and I have since been told by a few people that they have also heard a crying child down there in a room where the door always jams shut, despite being constantly fixed! The spooky basement corridor   Many people that stayed overnight at the Hall also heard these and other noises and in the ensuing years we were to experience many ghostly happenings but you’ll have to wait a little longer to hear about them – check out my future blogs!   Don’t miss next week’s instalm...

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #26

...ter Emily got married in 1863 she took the mirror with her to her new home, Hoar Cross Hall, and there it hung over the fireplace in the Library for many decades until the Meynells left in the 1950s.And so herein lies the connection between Alice and the Hall! Fast forward to the 1990s when Hoar Cross Hall had a new owner, Steve Joynes. He converted the Hall into a Spa Hotel and managed to source a lot of the original furniture from the Victorian era when Emily Meynell (nee Wood) lived there with her husband, Hugo. He found the original mirror which came from Hickleton Hall and now it hangs over the fireplace in the Library, just as it did all those years ago.Bu...

Queen Alexandra - my family #51

...mar never got over their deaths, refusing to believe it, preferring to believe that they had escaped, although in her heart she had probably accepted that they had been killed. Dagmar's second son, Michael, was also shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918 as he had been declared the new Tsar after Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. Many members of the Romanov family were killed although others managed to escape or were already living in other countries at the time of the Revolution. A tragic end to 300 years of Romanov rule.    Family Members Here stand members of Alexandra's family on board another ship as they sail to Norway and Denmark to see her family. On the...

Hoar Cross History #65

...which he got the same reply, “Sorry, its well after 8pm, you can only use the phone if you want to call the police, ambulance or fire brigade.”  How times have changed for this small village!  The Hall is now a Hotel and Spa, there is no longer a post office, school or blacksmiths and everyone has a mobile phone!   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends. Follow me on a personal tour of my childhood home on YouTube.OUT NOW!!  'My Dad Bought a Mansion' book is available on Amazon....