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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs

...ll in the seventies, when we were open to the public, quite a few of the servants came to look around and told us their stories of what they had done and what it was like living there in the early part of the century.  Most of them agreed that it was hard work and it’s clear that life below stairs was very different to life above.  For most servants it was an accepted way of life, and for many, unavoidable. Don’t miss next week’s instalment:  Like Father, Like Sons If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.            ...

Moving Out #32

...ig in the seventies.  They also owned a Ferrari between them and this was often parked in the drive, as the band shared it.  My dad put Kev’s name forward to re-wire the house (as he had trained as an electrician) and he spent the next few weekends fixing up the electrics alongside builders, plumbers and carpenters.  When it was all finished they put in their bills only to find out that the band were planning to leave the country – without paying anyone! The builders were none too pleased about this and went round to the newly finished house to take back anything they could find that was theirs – they also slashed the tyres on the Ferrari.  These were...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

...ll in the seventies, when we were open to the public, quite a few of the servants came to look around and told us their stories of what they had done and what it was like living there in the early part of the century. Most of them agreed that it was hard work and it’s clear that life below stairs was very different to life above. For most servants it was an accepted way of life, and for many, unavoidable. Don’t miss next week’s historical instalment If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.                  ...

Our mansion gets a facelift #4

...t was the seventies!  The Damask Room was to be open to the public and had actual damask material on the walls in a beautiful gold colour.  Likewise, the Hessian Room had – you’ve guessed it – hessian on the walls, which was rather like sackcloth and not too attractive but hard wearing no doubt!  We used this room as an office and general storage space but mainly only used the lounge as it was the warmest room in the house!  Once we moved downstairs it meant that we had to climb the main staircase to go to our bedrooms on the first floor.  This was like something out of Mission Impossible.  Because we didn’t want to leave lights on we had to switc...

Skools out for summer! #12

...SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!    When Hugo and Emily Meynell built Hoar Cross Hall it stood within 50 acres of land.  Their estate included kitchen gardens, greenhouses, stables, a farm and cottages. Old Hall (their original home) was also on the estate and was accessed via a private road, which ran from the main road. By the time the seventies came along the stable block and Old Hall were private houses and another part of Old Hall had been made into a children’s home. Emily Meynell had started this home in the Victorian days, calling it ‘The Home of the Good Shepherd’ but it was for boys only at that time. When we were there it was a mixed home and run by a...

Eat, Drink and be Merry! #10

...  In the seventies mediaeval banquets were becoming the ‘in thing’ so they started planning how they would do this.  It was decided that they would run them during the winter months and open the house to the public from Easter to the August Bank Holiday.     One of the JCB tankards sold at the banquets    Around this time J C Bamford, who had a factory in nearby Uttoxeter, heard that we were planning to run banquets and booked a private one exclusively for their US division.   My parents knew Joe Bamford (the JCB owner) quite well and I think my dad hoped that I would one day marry his son and invited him to one or two balls that we had a...