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Here comes the Bride (Part 1) # 30

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1):    Now that my dad was having to move out of the Hall we had decided to bring our wedding forward so that we could get married in the church in the grounds <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> then have the reception afterwards in the Hall, which was after all our family home.  The wedding preparations were going quite well <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> as we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a DJ to do the disco.  A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent.  I had two bridesmaids <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> we all went to Birmingham one day to choose our dresses <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> shoes – it was all...

Calendar Girls <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Front Covers #7

CALENDAR GIRLS <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> FRONT COVERS:        During our time at Hoar Cross Hall people would occasionally hire the house for a day’s filming or whatever.   During the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> he brought two models with him, one English <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> one German, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> they were taking photos for a glamour calendar.  We were told to keep right out of the way as they were taking photos in the gardens as well as the house.  Naturally we wanted to see everything that was going on <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> my younger brother Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings!  We m...

Ghouls Galore!

GHOULS  GALORE!    One of the great things about living in a stately home is that you can have a wild party with the loudest of music – <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> no-one will hear it!  I was now going out with Kev, whom I had met at college.  Mum was a bit disappointed that my sensible boyfriend <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> I had parted company after 18 months of an on/off relationship but she accepted Kev into the fold <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> eventually met all the other members of the b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>.  I think she wanted to put her mind at rest that they were a bunch of nice lads <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> not a drug crazed rock b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> eating bats!  Which of course they were! No – I’m only kidding!  After the awful split up at Christmas my parents...

Race day parties #26

RACE DAY PARTIES:     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.  Donington became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championships but he was really hoping to bring Formula 1 ra...

Here Comes the Bride (Part 1) #29

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1)     After the court case my dad was given 3 months to move out of Hoar Cross Hall. We had decided to bring our wedding forward so that we could get married in the Church of the Holy Angels in the grounds <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> then have the reception afterwards in the Hall, which was after all our family home. The wedding preparations were going quite well <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> as we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local b<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a DJ to do the disco. A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent. I had two bridesmaids <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> we all went to Birmingham one day to c...

Calendar Girls <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Front Covers #6

CALENDAR GIRLS <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> FRONT COVERS:     During our time at Hoar Cross Hall people would occasionally hire the house for a day’s filming or whatever. During the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> he brought two models with him, one English <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> one German, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> they were taking photos for a glamour calendar. We were told to keep right out of the way as they were taking photos in the gardens as well as the house. Naturally we wanted to see everything that was going on <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> my younger brother Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings! We managed to find...