Story Search Results

A Christmas Haunting! #34

...es of the Hall from when she and her family had lived there in the 1930s. She told them about the noises in the attic and how the servants complained about sleeping up there. Then she told them about someone knocking on their bedroom doors in the middle of the night. After that she told them about a little girl that used to run around the house, who could be heard giggling, of a room in the basement where the door always got stuck and the handle could be seen moving on it’s own. So many stories! Viv sat listening in amazement, enraptured. “Did you find out who the little girl was?” she eventually asked. “Oh yes,” answered Mrs Meynell. “She lived he...

Queen Alexandra - my family #50

...oar Cross Hall - perhaps Queen Mary brought it as a gift when she visited in the 1920s?  In it are photos of King Edward VII and other royals spending time at Balmoral and Sandringham during their holidays – a rare insight into how the royal family spent their leisure time, which in those days would never have been seen before. It also shows their travels on ships to Norway and visits to Alexandra's family in Denmark. Photos of boat trips down the Thames and tea parties with Lords and Ladies of the day are in abundance in this album along with pictures of her grandsons, the future Edward VIII who abdicated and his brother George, who later became the King Ge...

Christmas High Jinks #72

...ed at the Hall but that there was a party at the vicarage afterwards with lots of food, mince pies and mulled wine along with a group of bell-ringers to finish off the evening.  The thought of nice Christmas fare was enough to mollify them but they were already thinking up tricks they could play on the unsuspecting parishioners! The day of the Carol Service arrived and as they approached the church Gavin and Viv went to show their mother where the grave was.  But as they got nearer they couldn’t find it. “How strange,” said Viv.  “I’m sure it was here, just round the corner from the front door!” They looked around but couldn’t see anything bu...

The ghost of Christmas past #73

...es of the Hall from when she and her family had lived there in the 1930s.  She told them about the noises in the attic and how the servants complained about sleeping up there.  Then she told them about someone knocking on their bedroom doors in the middle of the night.  After that she told them about a little girl that used to run around the house, who could be heard giggling, of a room in the basement where the door always got stuck and the handle could be seen moving on it’s own.  So many stories!  Viv sat listening in amazement, enraptured. “Did you find out who the little girl was?” she eventually asked. “Oh yes,” answered Mrs Meynell.  “...

Christmas High Jinks #87

...ed at the Hall but that there was a party at the vicarage afterwards with lots of food, mince pies and mulled wine along with a group of bell-ringers to finish off the evening.  The thought of nice Christmas fare was enough to mollify them but they were already thinking up tricks they could play on the unsuspecting parishioners! The day of the Carol Service arrived and as they approached the church Gavin and Viv went to show their mother where the grave was.  But as they got nearer they couldn’t find it. “How strange,” said Viv.  “I’m sure it was here, just round the corner from the front door!” They looked around but couldn’t see anything bu...

THE RENOVATIONS BEGIN #4

...Servants Hall where they all ate their meals.  Originally there had been extra rooms on one end of the house which were the kitchens and sculleries downstairs (off the basement) and  sewing/mending rooms upstairs.  These rooms had been demolished by a group of monks who were hoping to buy the Hall back in the sixties.  I’ll never understand why they were allowed to knock down part of a beautiful house before they even bought it and this end of the house was now a rough area used for parking.  You could still see the doors to the Boot Room, the Flower Room and the Boiler Room and this is where my dad got the idea of making one of these rooms into a specia...