Story Search Results

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #28

...ce in the Library for many decades until the Meynells left in the 1950s.   The mirror which inspired Lewis Carroll   And so herein lies the connection between Alice and the Hall! Fast forward to the 1990s when Hoar Cross Hall had a new owner, Steve Joynes. He converted the Hall into a Spa Hotel and managed to source a lot of the original furniture from the Victorian era when Emily Meynell (nee Wood) lived there with her husband, Hugo. He found the original mirror which came from Hickleton Hall and now it hangs over the fireplace in the Library, just as it did all those years ago (see header picture). But it seems that the ghost of Alice may have come...

My Dad Bought a Mansion #1

...pel and a Library with secret doors! How I loved it – I was a big fan of The Famous Five in those days and it really did feel like I was in the middle of one of their mysteries! There were about 15 basement rooms, some of which had had the floors removed due to damp rot, but the main passageway was made of flagstones so you could still walk through it – this was where a lot of the male servants had slept and it was also where the wine cellars were along with linen storage cupboards. In the attic a similar number of rooms were bare and empty and had once housed all the female servants. Two spiral staircases joined all the floors together, one at each end of t...

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #32

...ce in the Library for many decades until the Meynells left in the 1950s. And so herein lies the connection between Alice and the Hall! Fast forward to the 1990s when Hoar Cross Hall had a new owner, Steve Joynes. He converted the Hall into a Spa Hotel and managed to source a lot of the original furniture from the Victorian era when Emily Meynell lived there with her husband, Hugo. He found the original mirror which came from Hickleton Hall and now it hangs over the fireplace in the Library, just as it did all those years ago. But it seems that the ghost of Alice may have come with the mirror. Ever since the mirror was installed in the Library people have seen...

Growing up in a stately home #1

...pel and a Library with secret doors! How I loved it – I was a big fan of The Famous Five in those days and it really did feel like I was in the middle of one of their mysteries! There were about 15 basement rooms, some of which had had the floors removed due to damp rot, but the main passageway was made of flagstones so you could still walk through it – this was where the indoor male servants had slept and it was also where the wine cellars were along with linen storage cupboards. In the attic a similar number of rooms were bare and empty and had once housed all the female servants. Two spiral staircases joined all the floors together, one at each end of the...

Skools out for Summer #16

...or in the Library. There were two secret doors, one which was always open and used by the visitors to wend their way around the house and the other was on the opposite side of the room and always closed. The doors, when closed, looked like part of the bookshelves and had a little brass catch on the ledge which you pressed to open them. One day I stood in the Library near the door and smiled at some visitors so they saw me standing there. When they turned to look out of the window I quickly released the catch and Janine and I swapped places – as they turned back and saw a different girl standing there their smiles looked a bit forced and they quickly fled the r...

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #26

...ce in the Library for many decades until the Meynells left in the 1950s.And so herein lies the connection between Alice and the Hall! Fast forward to the 1990s when Hoar Cross Hall had a new owner, Steve Joynes. He converted the Hall into a Spa Hotel and managed to source a lot of the original furniture from the Victorian era when Emily Meynell (nee Wood) lived there with her husband, Hugo. He found the original mirror which came from Hickleton Hall and now it hangs over the fireplace in the Library, just as it did all those years ago.But it seems that the ghost of Alice may have come with the mirror. Ever since the mirror was installed in the Library people hav...