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Hoar Cross Hall - Life Below Stairs #35

...ontinuous cooking that needed to be done – for the family above stairs and the servants below. Everyone had meals at different times; the servants would obviously eat before or after they had served the family. The children and nursery staff would eat at around 5pm and then there were the afternoon teas and full English breakfasts! Everything had to be made from scratch of course so the cooks must have been cooking something or other from dawn until dusk. It must have been exhausting! In the grounds there were around 20 gardeners and groundsmen who helped to keep the constant weeds down and tend to the rose bushes and hedges. This in itself would have been a...

The Tax Man Cometh! #26

...ecided to cook some chips for us all. He went into the kitchen and saw that the chimney was on fire! We all ran out of the pub and sure enough, there were flames pouring out of the top of the chimney.   As the landlord only lived in the village the chef phoned him up and told him about the fire but he wouldn’t believe him! He thought we were playing a joke on him and slammed the phone down. Once more the chef rang him and told him that the pub was on fire – he must come straight away, but once again he wouldn’t believe us and hung up. Meanwhile we rang the fire brigade and then the landlord again, who by now was very angry at being disturbed in the early...

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #57

...“a good cook and kind friends” the function cost exactly £50 and was enjoyed by all who attended. It just goes to show that great expense doesn't necessarily mean more enjoyment! Although the Meynells' held a lot of social events for themselves, they didn't forget their employees and tenants who helped to run their estates. Once a year they would always have a Servants Ball at Christmas in the Long Gallery and also garden parties in the summer. Below is an invitation to a function at Hoar Cross in July 1906 given to Miss Eliza Dook, daughter of one of the tenant farmers on the Laughton estate, Winteringham Dook (now there's an unusual name!) Miss Dook's...

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #97

...“a good cook and kind friends” the function cost exactly £50 and was enjoyed by all who attended.  It just goes to show that great expense doesn't necessarily mean more enjoyment! Although the Meynells' held a lot of social events for themselves, they didn't forget their employees and tenants who helped to run their estates.  Once a year they would always have a Servants Ball at Christmas in the Long Gallery and also garden parties in the summer.  Below is an invitation to a function at Hoar Cross in July 1906 given to Miss Eliza Dook, daughter of one of the tenant farmers on the Laughton estate, Winteringham Dook (now there's an unusual name!)  The La...