Story Search Results

Whodunit in the Library #24

...with his hands round my mum’s throat) so she had grabbed the nearest thing to her, which was the truncheon, and hit him over the head. She had then locked him in the room until he calmed down, as she was fearful of his temper and the awful rages he would go into, then went to a neighbour’s house to keep out of the way! My dad remained in the local hospital for at least a week. An x-ray showed that there was nothing broken or cracked – incredibly! How he survived I’ll never know but he was obviously made of tough stuff. He’d survived poverty, a war, TB, losing a lung and the dangerous sport of motor racing so why not a knock on the head? But things ha...

See you in Court #27

...exchanged hands over the years – a small forest at least! The Judge looked at it all with distaste. So much paperwork!   Each barrister gave their speech informing the Judge what their client wanted and how they should go about it. After they had both finished and lots of paper shuffling had happened, the Judge looked at us all and said, “There’s only two people in this courtroom that are going to make anything out of this sorry state – and that’s you (dad’s barrister) and you (mum’s barrister)”. He pointed at them both as he said it, as if they hadn’t already made a lot of money out of it! “Now go outside and sort it out between you....

What the butler saw!

...ake their hands to help them down the steps when they got home.  I can hear all the giggling even now! The highlight of the year for these girls was an eagerly-awaited dance at the Servants’ Ball at Christmas time.  Let’s hope they didn’t get up to too much mischief when the butler wasn’t looking!   Don’t miss next week’s instalment:  Gardeners world at Hoar Cross If you want to follow my story from the beginning Click Here!...

A New Year Calamity! #35

...ne joined hands to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Once all the traditional stuff was done the band started up again and we all did the Hokey Cokey, the Conga and other silly dances that only happen on New Year’s Eve!  My parents were having a trial separation around this time so my dad had to run the New Year’s Eve Ball on his own. I helped, as I had before, with the administration; posting out tickets and doing a bit of book-keeping. The week prior to the Ball was spent moving furniture about and cleaning the house up after all the banquet tables and benches were removed. We usually used some of the banquet tables for people to sit at but this particular year...

The Origins of the Stately Home #39

...y much a 'hands on' gardener and designed many gardens and parklands for the aristocracy, which are still seen and enjoyed today by visitors to these grand houses.   Typical landscaped parkland   All large houses are called different names too and you may have thought that this was down to the size of them, as I did. And this is true to a point but they also tell us what type of person lived there and what the house was used for. For instance, a Palace belongs to a royal household, a Chateau belongs to a King or nobleman and a Manor is always on an estate of a Lord's land. The people who lived in them were usually aristocrats – families of high socia...

The Kitchen Maid's Tale #41

...If you were young, free and single – oh, and very well-to-do – the 1920s were the decade to be a part of. The upper classes had lots of time on their hands and enjoyed post-First World War delights such as the theatre and jazz clubs.Not so for the lower classes, in particular a young girl who was to become the kitchen maid at Hoar Cross Hall in the 1920s. The ‘depression’ after the First World War brought stark poverty to her home and many like her. Her name was Jean Rennie, and she was extremely intelligent having won a scholarship to Glasgow University to study French and music. However, the £5 bursary she got (equivalent to around £250 in today's mo...