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The graveyard shift #24

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT:    Life carried on at Hoar Cross Hall as best it could in difficult circumstances.  My dad continued to go to Arms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Armour Fairs to buy <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> sell antiques <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> that seemed to cheer him up.  But he really needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he jumped at the chance <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> bought it.  It was an ex lifeboat called The Bembo so quite sturdy, although in need of a...

What the Butler Saw! #37

Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey will remember Carter the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been in the 19th century <Span class='highlight'>andSpan>, strangely enough, the butler at Hoar Cross Hall during the early part of the 20th century was also called Carter! Although most big houses had a house steward who was in charge of accounts <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> general running of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy. He was usually a gr<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>, authoritarian figure, comm<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>ing respect <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> awe <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsetting him! He was dressed like a gentleman of the period <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> generally ran the household with an iron fist. As I said,...

RACE TRACK ‘AFTER PARTIES’ #27

RACE TRACK ‘AFTER PARTIES’ Because my dad used to be a racing driver 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 F...

Here comes the bride (Part 1) #30

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1)   Our wedding preparations were going quite well.  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 kept very simple really as I had no help or advice from my mum as most brides do.   Kev’s parents had eloped after the war <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> got married in a register office with two witnesses dragged off the street, so they had no idea what you did to pla...

The Graveyard Shift! #25

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT!       Life carried on at the Hall as best it could in difficult circumstances.  My dad continued to go to Arms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Armour Fairs to buy <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> sell antiques <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> that seemed to cheer him up.  But he really needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he jumped at the chance <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> bought it.  It was an ex lifeboat called The Bembo so quite sturdy, although in need of a li...

The Graveyard Shift #23

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT:      Life carried on at Hoar Cross Hall as best it could in difficult circumstances. My dad continued to go to Arms <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> Armour Fairs to buy <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> sell antiques <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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, <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> that seemed to cheer him up. But he really needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he decided to buy it. It was an ex lifeboat called The Bembo so quite sturdy, although in need of a lick of paint <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a bi...