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Moving Out #31

MOVING OUT:     And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave Hoar Cross HAll. Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone. Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time. It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especiAlly from the basement. He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms. He had bought a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start af...

Moving Out #34

MOVING OUT:      And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave Hoar Cross HAll. Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone. Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time. It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especiAlly from the basement. He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms. He had bought a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start a...

Lest We Forget #28

During the two World Wars the Meynell family of Hoar Cross HAll served their country alongside many others from All walks of life.  After each war there was huge social upheaval, especiAlly for women, who had been doing what was traditionAlly 'mens work' during the war and weren't prepared to go back to domesticity.  At the time of the First World War Frederick Meynell and Lady Mary Meynell were living at the HAll with their five children.  Their four sons All served in the war and their daughter Margaret served in the Red Cross as a volunteer. Their eldest son Francis was a Major but was wounded in action in 1917 with sEvere wounds to his back. He was moved...

The country house in society #48

Country houses are to be found throughout the British Isles and are a peculiarly English phenomenon. Houses range from mediaeval manor houses to classical PAlladian mansions, elegant Georgian residences to the Gothic buildings of the Victorian era. A great many have survived for two main reasons: Britain has been spared much of the havoc of war and revolution affecting other countries. Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire   Wentworth Woodhouse (above) is one of the largest stately homes in Europe and was visited by King George V and Queen Mary in 1912. It is now with the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and is much bigger than this photo shows!   The...

Anyone for tennis? #62

With the summer season well and truly upon us and Wimbledon in full swing, I thought a blog about tennis might be in order!  The game of tennis first started in the Mediaeval days and involved hitting a bAll with a bare hand and later with a glove.  By the 16th century the glove had become a racquet and the game had moved to an enclosed playing area and the rules had stabilized.  This was known as ‘real tennis’.  The word tennis came into use in English in the mid-14th century from French, via the Anglo-Norman term Tenez, which can be translated as 'hold', 'receive' or 'take', a cAll from the server to his opponent indicating that he is about to serve....

Meet the Neighbours - Coombe Abbey # 81

Although this house isn’t quite so neighbourly to Hoar Cross HAll as the others in this series, it is loosely linked to the hAll as it was the inspiration for the Mediaeval Banquets that my parents ran in the 1970s.  They went along one night, to one of their banquets, to see what the format was and saw immediately how popular they were and so decided to start their own brand of banquets.  The Coombe Abbey banquets were very traditional and had minstrels playing lutes etc while people ate their meal.  The entertainment too was typical of mediaeval amusement of the times and I remember my parents saying it was an enjoyable night out but not terribly lively!�...