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Whodunit in the Library #24

When we first moved to Hoar Cross Hall, growing up in a ighlight'>stately ighlight'>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...

A New Year Calamity! #35

The New Year’s Eve Balls at Hoar Cross Hall were usually the highlight of the year. After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party. in those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal. At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt and sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes. Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk and into the Ballroom wi...

Midnight Pool Parties # 59

Following on with the summer theme my mind drifted back to those halcyon days of summer when we were all young and lively and hanging out with a large group of friends.  By now Kev and i had left college and were both working but weekends were for fun and parties! Kev and the band were also getting a few gigs around the area and after singing with them for a little while i gave it up and let a more professional singer take over – i needed to work on my confidence first!   We still went to the local '76 Club' though to see live music – it was the start of the punk era and we saw the Sex Pistols there when they were just starting out – i have to say they...

Hoar Cross Hall meets Downton Abbey #99

With the new Downton Abbey film out this month i thought i would do a comparison of the two family ighlight'>homes, Downton and Hoar Cross Hall, the latter being my old family ighlight'>home for those of you who are new to these blogs.  Although Downton Abbey is fictional, the house on which it is based is not, it being Highclere Castle in Hampshire which was built in 1679 and is owned by the Earl of Carnarvon. Hoar Cross Hall was the original ighlight'>home of the Meynell ingram family who first came from Leicestershire and was built in 1863.  Hugo Meynell of Quorndon was the High Sheriff of Staffordshire and Member of Parliament for Lichfield and the family owned considerable property in...

A ighlight'>home fit for a King #21

in this week's blog i am focusing on the royal family again and the ighlight'>stately ighlight'>homes which they grew up in. The main residence for the Royal family is Buckingham Palace which is the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom and ighlight'>where many state occasions take place, but Buckingham Palace was originally known as Buckingham House. The building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. it was acquired by King George iii in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th ce...

Lest we forget #86

During the two World Wars the Meynell family of Hoar Cross Hall served their country alongside many others from all walks of life.  After each war there was huge social upheaval, especially for women, who had been doing what was traditionally 'men's work' during the war and weren't prepared to go back to domestic roles.  At the time of the First World War Frederick Meynell and Lady Mary Meynell were living at the Hall with their five children.  Their four sons all served in the war and their daughter Margaret served in the Red Cross as a volunteer. Their eldest son Francis was a Major but was wounded in action in 1917 with severe wounds to his back. He was m...