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VENTURES NEW #10

VENTURES NEW: We were now in our third year at the Hall and our lives were always busy keeping on top of the weeds and general upkeep of the house.  My dad expected us children to help as much as possible, which we hated, and much of our time was spent trying to hide from him to get out of doing the chores.  But sometimes we didn’t mind and we happily pulled an old trolley into the woods every now and then to collect wood for the fires and sometimes as a family we would spend a day clearing parts of the woods and grounds.  My mum had hired a lady from the village to help with the housework and we had also taken on a retired chap called Mr Hickman to do some...

LET THE BANQUET COMMENCE! #11

...ed at the Hall one day in early September.  There were lots of nibbles and quite a lot of champagne flowing and the newspapers and radio stations turned up to take lots of photos of us all in various poses and record interviews with the cast.  It was a lovely, warm Autumn day and many of the photos were taken outdoors (see header picture).  I remember it turning out to be quite a party, even though it started at 9.30 in the morning; as the day wore on and the organist started playing a few of the songs we would be doing at the banquets, everyone started dancing and singing along – it was 4pm by the time it finished! Banquets Press Launch 1973 - Here ar...

The Graveyard Shift..... #24

...THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT...... Life carried on at the Hall as best it could in difficult circumstances.  My dad continued to go to arms fairs to buy and sell antiques and we also went to a mediaeval banquet in Cheshire one night, although it wasn’t anywhere near as good as ours!  Once or twice we took my dad out with our friends to Derby, where he originated from, and that seemed to cheer him up.  But he really needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time and when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he jumped at the chance and bought it.  It was an ex lifeboat called The Benbow so quite sturdy, although in need of a lick of paint and...

WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY? #25

...WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY? When we first moved to the Hall. growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child.  This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad.  But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating.  Coupled with this was my parents fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who perhaps saw more o...

RACE TRACK ‘AFTER PARTIES’ #27

...ed Kirkby Hall.  They eventually called it Kirkby Mallory Hall and it survived until 1952 when it was demolished.  A builder bought the estate the following year and built the race track in the grounds, starting first with motor cycle grass track racing until the tarmac race track was built.  It’s a very similar story to the Donington Park one actually! The official opening was in 1956 with Bob Gerrard being in the first race.  My dad would have been there racing his car too throughout the 1950s alongside great names such as Graham Hill and Jim Clarke.  So it seemed appropriate that his ex-driver should buy the track that he used to race round! Chris dec...

See You In Court! #28

...SEE YOU IN COURT - The saga of my parents’ split continued as we grew up in our stately home, although their behaviour was anything but stately for most of the time!  Seven years of arguing and fighting were about to come to an end and the solicitors had finally agreed on a date to go to court.  We carried on helping my dad to run the Hall and he still went to his boat in Caernarfon at weekends to get away from the house but we were all getting weary of it now.  We were young adults and wanting to get on with our own lives.  After five years together we were hoping to get married at some point so we were glad that it was finally going to be sorted out one...