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Victorian Courtship - gloves #92
Posted by Viv Wilson on 26th March 2025 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | Hoar cross hall spa hotel,barons eden,victorian era,history,women,gloves,hands,Henry Wehman,nudity,queen victoria,French,buttons,Downton Abbey,historic houses,glove box,my dad bought a mansion,national trust
This is the second blog in the series on Victorian courtship and is all about the use of gloves.
During the Victorian era, gloves were deeply connected to the notion of the “perfect hand” which were to be “shapely, finely made, white with blue vein, taper fingers, rosy nails and slightly arched”. They were seen as social markers and accordingly, ladies wore gloves which were too small for them in order to shrink their hands.
Following an old French practice, glove length was traditionally measured in buttons based on the distance between the base of the thumb and the top edge of the glove. Until Queen Victoria’s reign gloves were quite short. F...
SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! #13
Posted by Viv Wilson on 1st June 1973 in Early Days | Hoar cross hall,kasbah,bull fighting,meynell,uttoxeter,streaker,mediaeval banquets,greece,acropolis,majorca,portugal,spain,caves of drach,flamenco,morroco
SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! When Hugo and Emily Meynell built the Hall it included a whole estate with it, namely kitchen gardens, greenhouses, stables, a farm and cottages. Old Hall (their original home) was also on the estate and was accessed via a private road, which ran from the main road. By the time the seventies came along the stable block and Old Hall were private houses and another part of Old Hall had been made into a children’s home. Emily Meynell had started this home in the Victorian days, calling it ‘The Home of the Good Shepherd’ but it was for boys only at that time. When we were there it was a mixed home and run by a husband and wife co...
Becoming A Rock Chick! #17
Posted by Viv Wilson on 1st February 1975 in Early Days | rock chick,Hoar cross hall,doobie brothers,steely dan,steelers wheel,the who,keith moon,easy rider,uttoxeter,burton on trent,hippy,college
BECOMING A ROCK CHICK: My schooldays were coming to an end now and I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave. The school itself was an old Victorian grammar school which still had wooden desks with inkwells in them! Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns, not like the ones at Eton and Harrow – mine were more like the ones in the Beano!
However, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go into Uttoxeter every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local JCB firm. They were all into motor bikes and one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’. They also went to a lot of concerts...
Suits You Sir! #23
Posted by Viv Wilson on 25th June 1976 in Early Days | Hoar cross hall,suits of armour,antiques,divorce,ballroom,banquet,gallery,pistols
SUITS YOU SIR! When we moved to the Hall in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years. It was such a shame as it had been designed by Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century. The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed. This chap really loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon! Alas, after removing all the pipes and laying them out in...
NEW YEAR JINKS #26
Posted by Viv Wilson on 16th July 1976 in Early Days | Hoar cross hall,new year's eve,bagpipes,ball,band,conga,bar,ballroom,Auld Lang Syne
NEW YEAR JINKS The New Year’s Eve Balls were usually the highlight of the year. After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party. In those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal. At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes. Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk and into the Ballroom with hi...New Year jinks! #11
Posted by Viv Wilson on 30th December 2018 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | Hoar cross hall,Scottish,Lichfield,new year's eve
NEW YEAR JINKS! The New Year’s Eve Balls at the Hall were usually the highlight of the year. After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week throughout the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party. In those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal. At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt and sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes. Down the Long Gallery he would slowly...