Story Search Results

Ghostbusters #8

...sited the Hall with my mum and two of my children, the staff were telling us about a room in the basement that always had a chilly atmosphere and where the door always got stuck for no reason and sometimes they heard a child crying inside.  So, (I thought) it’s still here then – so glad I don’t live here anymore! More ghostly goings-on in future blogs! Don’t miss next week’s instalment: Motor Racing Days – Subscribe now and please feel free to share with your friends!...

Party On! #18

...up to the Hall at closing time and sneak into the west wing via the basement door, which was the way in for the people who lived in the apartments.  Up the spiral staircase we would all go and eventually we got to our destination, trying to beat the time switches which kept the lights on until we got there.  We were always terrified that the lights would ‘time out’ before we got to the next one along the basement passageway and everyone would be making ghostly sounds and chasing each other into dark rooms off the main route.  Good job no-one could hear us really! As everyone had heard about the ghost stories at the Hall, occasionally at these parties we...

THE TAX MAN COMETH #29

...aving the Hall we started to plan our wedding as we had always wanted to get married in the church in the grounds and have the reception in the Hall – with all those bottles of champagne that my dad had been saving for years!   The year was now 1980 and we set a date in August, a couple of months before my dad had to leave.  It was strange having to meet up with the vicar who we had had such a fall out with when we were youngsters, when we had lit all the candles in the church one day to brighten it up.  I hoped he didn’t remember!  I also hoped he didn’t know that it was Gavin and I who had sabotaged the many Christmas and Easter high teas at the vic...

Moving Out#32

...MOVING OUT:    And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave the 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...

Moving into the Manor #2

...MOVING INTO THE MANOR:          My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months.  We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there!  Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child.  My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donington Park.  During the...

Things that go bump in the night! #3

...THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!        Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!!  That first winter at the Hall was like that.  Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake.  The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose.   They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years.  I remember standing there in the attic rooms, the hairs prickling the back of my neck and quickly legging it back downstairs!  On other nights I would h...