Story Search Results

The Graveyard Shift #23

...g for the business and the house. Solicitors will always drag things out as they are the ones making the most money out of it all and they certainly dragged it out as long as they could! My dad continued to sell his antiques but with all the smaller items gone he now had to try and sneak the larger things out. He came up with the idea of asking the buyer to park in the lane next to the church at midnight. As we were always coming in late from parties he asked us to help out after dark. So there we were, meeting up with my dad in the middle of the night while he showed us which piece of furniture to carry out of the house. Then we had to struggle with a chaise lo...

Whodunit in the Library #24

...When we first moved to Hoar Cross Hall, growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child. This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my father. But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating. Coupled with this was my parents' fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The small gardens we loved to explore   The effect this had on me, as the eldest c...

The Graveyard Shift..... #24

...g for the business and the house.  Solicitors will always drag things out as they are the ones making the most money out of it all and they certainly dragged it out as long as they could!  My dad continued to sell his antiques but with all the smaller items gone he now had to try and sneak the larger things out.  He came up with the idea of asking the buyer to park in the lane next to the church at midnight.  As we were always coming in late from parties he asked us to help out after dark.  So there we were, meeting up with my dad in the middle of the night while he showed us which piece of furniture to carry out of the house.  Then we had to struggle with...

WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY? #25

...WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY? When we first moved to the Hall. growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child.  This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad.  But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating.  Coupled with this was my parents fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who perhaps saw more o...

Moving Out#32

...plumbing business with a colleague and I joined the team a few months later when I was made redundant from my job.  Soon my brother Gavin joined us as more work came in, mainly installing central heating systems.  We got to know an estate agent in the town which led to other work involving changing locks on houses as the agents often lost their keys to the houses they were selling. On one particular occasion Gavin set off in the company van to change a lock on one of the estate agents’ houses.   The house was located along a road in Burton and he parked on the drive and went up to the front door.  He noticed that the house was furnished and thought it a...

Motor Racing Days #9

...big money business.  My dad didn’t have a rich family to support him or financial backers and probably did it all on a shoestring knowing him!  He told me that he would always ‘take it easy’ and wasn’t too bothered about winning; drivers always got their ‘start’ money and he was satisfied with that.  Accidents meant expensive repairs! During the 1960s he raced Lotus Elites and I have never forgotten the time, aged just 5 years old, when he took me for a spin around Mallory Park.  I remember it all very clearly, even now.  He strapped me into the car, watched by the mechanics in the pits.  My poor mother was worried to death and kept asking if...