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What the Butler Saw! #35

WHaT THE BUTLER SaW!     anyone who’s seen Downton abbey will remember Carter the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been an class='highlight'>inan> the 19th century and, strangely enough, the butler at Hoar Cross Hall duran class='highlight'>inan>g the early part of the 20th century was also called Carter! although most big houses had a house steward who was an class='highlight'>inan> charge of accounts and general runnan class='highlight'>inan>g of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy. He was usually a grand, authoritarian figure, commandan class='highlight'>inan>g respect and awe and most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsettan class='highlight'>inan>g him! He was dressed like a gentleman of the period and generally ran the household wi...

Gardeners World at Hoar Cross #36

GaRDENERS’ WORLD aT HOaR CROSS:      an class='highlight'>inan> it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free. an class='highlight'>inan> Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener. at Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘diggan class='highlight'>inan>g slaves’! They were responsible for producan class='highlight'>inan>g fruit, vegetables and growan class='highlight'>inan>g luxury items an class='highlight'>inan> and out of season, much of it under glass. adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden. This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables and herbs. The palm h...

Becoman class='highlight'>inan>g a rock chick #16

BECOMan class='highlight'>inan>G a ROCK CHICK:     My schooldays were coman class='highlight'>inan>g to an end now and I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave. The school itself was an old Victorian grammar school an class='highlight'>inan> Uttoxeter which still had wooden desks with an class='highlight'>inan>kwells an class='highlight'>inan> them! Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns just like the ones at Eton and Harrow – or the Beano! However, an class='highlight'>inan> the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go an class='highlight'>inan>to town every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local J. C. Bamford firm. They were all an class='highlight'>inan>to motor bikes and one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’. They also went to a lot of concerts to see live musi...

Like Father, Like Sons #19

LIKE FaTHER, LIKE SONS:    as previously mentioned an class='highlight'>inan> earlier blogs my dad used to be a racan class='highlight'>inan>g driver duran class='highlight'>inan>g the 1950s and ran his own team an class='highlight'>inan> the 1960s, Shardlow Motor Racan class='highlight'>inan>g, travellan class='highlight'>inan>g all over Europe an class='highlight'>inan> his trusty Volkswagon van with his two mechanics and driver. He didn’t have big sponsorship money behan class='highlight'>inan>d him and most of it was done on a shoestran class='highlight'>inan>g but he came back with lots of funny stories of their van breakan class='highlight'>inan>g down or some rural ‘hotel’ that they had stayed an class='highlight'>inan>. From each country that he visited he always brought me back a doll dressed an class='highlight'>inan> the traditional costume of that country. There was quite a collection and I still have them; I used to put the...

Race Day Parties #25

RaCE DaY PaRTIES:    My dad used to be a racan class='highlight'>inan>g driver so he was often an class='highlight'>inan>vited to parties and open days at various racan class='highlight'>inan>g circuits. He naturally knew lots of racan class='highlight'>inan>g people and on this particular occasion he was an class='highlight'>inan>vited to an Open Day at Donan class='highlight'>inan>gton Park. Tom Wheatcroft, a local entrepreneur, had bought Donan class='highlight'>inan>gton Park an class='highlight'>inan> the 1970s as he owned the largest collection of Grand Prix cars an class='highlight'>inan> the world at that time. an class='highlight'>inan> 1973 he opened a museum there to house them all and called it the Donan class='highlight'>inan>gton Grand Prix Exhibition. Donan class='highlight'>inan>gton became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcyclan class='highlight'>inan>g championships but he was really hopan class='highlight'>inan>g to bran class='highlight'>inan>g Formula 1 racan class='highlight'>inan>g back to...

alice - the ghost an class='highlight'>inan> the mirror #28

aLICE – THE GHOST an class='highlight'>inan> THE MIRROR:     (Based on true events)    an class='highlight'>inan> 1865 Lewis Carroll wrote another story about alice followan class='highlight'>inan>g on from ‘alice an class='highlight'>inan> Wonderland’. It was called ‘alice through the Lookan class='highlight'>inan>g Glass’. an class='highlight'>inan> this story alice climbs onto the mantlepiece over the fireplace an class='highlight'>inan> her lounge and fan class='highlight'>inan>ds that she can climb through the mirror an class='highlight'>inan>to another world which is reversed, just like a reflection. Once agaan class='highlight'>inan>, she encounters strange figures an class='highlight'>inan> a world doman class='highlight'>inan>ated by a chess set and nursery rhyme characters, among others. But what an class='highlight'>inan>spired Lewis Carroll to write about a little girl havan class='highlight'>inan>g lots of adventures? an class='highlight'>inan> the 1850s Charles Dodgson (Carroll’s rea...