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Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

HUNTIN’,  SHOOTIN’ AND FISHIN’:    Most stately homes have the obligatory hunting, shooting and fishing and Hoar Cross Hall was no exception during the Meynell family’s time there. We participated in none of these but the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt used to meet locally to do a spot of fox hunting. They would all gather at different venues around the area and enjoy a drink before setting off. One of their usual places was the Meynell Ingram Arms Public House at the bottom of the village. In February 1972 they had their ‘meet’ at the Hall. We, as the host family, got all dressed up to meet and greet them and local helpers served drinks, usually s...

More tea Vicar? #11

MORE TEA VICAR?     During the long summer holidays it was easy to get bored. As there was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no children living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like the Famous Five but without a dog! We would roam around the village or explore the basement. My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2. The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring antiques to sell. He had one of the field phones in his workshop...

Like Father, Like Sons #19

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS:    As previously mentioned in earlier blogs my dad used to be a racing driver during the 1950s and ran his own team in the 1960s, Shardlow Motor Racing, travelling all over Europe in his trusty Volkswagon van with his two mechanics and driver. He didn’t have big sponsorship money behind him and most of it was done on a shoestring but he came back with lots of funny stories of their van breaking down or some rural ‘hotel’ that they had stayed in. From each country that he visited he always brought me back a doll dressed in 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 racing driver so he was often invited to parties and open days at various racing circuits. He naturally knew lots of racing people and 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 Grand Prix cars in the world at that time. In 1973 he opened a museum there to house them all and called it the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition. Donington became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championships but he was really hoping to bring Formula 1 racing back to...

Here Comes the Bride (Part 1) #32

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 1):   Now my dad was having to move out of the Hall we had decided to bring our wedding forward so that we could get married in the church in the grounds (the Church of the Holy Angels) and then have the reception afterwards in the Hall, which was after all our family home. The wedding preparations were going quite well and as we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local band and a DJ to do the disco. A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering and the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent. I had two bridesmaids and we all went to Birmingham one day to choose our dresses and...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #39

GARDENERS’ WORLD AT HOAR CROSS:    In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free. In 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 ‘digging slaves’! They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in 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 house...