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Midnight Pool Parties # 59

...me in the Meynell Arms, the local pub.  Every time we went in everybody wanted an update on what was going on at the Hall with my parents and their long running divorce battle.   It was a bit like a local soap opera!   We had also become engaged and I stayed at Kev’s house in the week so I could get to work easily having failed my driving test a couple of times; weekends were spent at the Hall.   Hoar Cross and the surrounding villages were a bit of a Birmingham commuter belt area and a lot of the families were quite well-to-do.  We met up with a crowd of young people in the Meynell every weekend whose fathers were stockbrokers, barristers and local ge...

Midnight Pool Parties #21

...t! The Meynell Arms became our 'second home'   We were now spending more of our social time in the Meynell Arms, the local pub. Every time we went in everybody wanted an update on what was going on at the Hall with my parents and their quabbles. It was a bit like a local soap opera! We had also become engaged and I stayed at Kev’s house in the week so I could get to work easily having failed my driving test a couple of times; weekends were spent at the Hall. Hoar Cross and the surrounding villages were a bit of a Birmingham commuter belt area and a lot of the families were quite well-to-do. We met up with a crowd of young people in the Meynell every we...

Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

...c. The Meynell Arms where the hunt would meet   The other ‘sport’ was shooting pheasants. This was something that was started by Henry VIII when guns became easier to handle back around 1500 and continues to this day although some have now changed to clay pigeon shooting. On a good day they could bag anything up to 300 birds! The shooting season was from October through to February and every year the local ‘shoot’ would come to the Hall to bag a few birds. I think there was an arrangement with the Meynells that they could still come and shoot on our land when we bought the house. A gamekeeper used to breed the pheasants in some sheds in the woods...

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...

Panto Pranks #21

...PANTO PRANKS!     During the 1970s Hoar Cross Hall was used from time to time for local community activities and one such event was the production in 1978 of a traditional pantomime, ‘Midnight and a Journey back to Happiness’. It was written by local people, Robert Leighton from Yoxall and the Hon. Alexandra Meynell, daughter-in-law of Mrs Jean Meynell whom we had purchased the Hall from. The words and music were written by local songwriter, David Matthews, who had written songs for quite a few pop artists during the 1960s, his most famous being Matt Munro’s ‘We’re gonna change the world’. So off to a good start there! For those of you who don’...

Growing up in a stately home #1

...It was the summer of 1970, Mungo Jerry was at the top of the hit parade and we were about to move house. But not to any old house – to a 70 roomed mansion in 20 acres of grounds! For years my dad had collected antiques, ever since he was a young boy of 12, and it was his dream to own a large house where he could put them on show to the general public. In the 1970s he owned the largest private collection of Arms and armour in the country and his dream was about to be realised; but little did we know what a nightmare would unfold before us. Hoar Cross Hall was the home of the Meynell Ingram family who originated from Leicestershire. Hugo Meynell of Quorndon was...