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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at the Hall from the 1870s to the 1950s when the Hall became empty. They were an essential part of keeping a big house running but were often not appreciated by the aristocracy as they went about their day to day duties. The life of a servant in Victorian times was a hard one. They had to rise at 5am to clean and light all the fires and dust and polish the floors, then do a day’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to a great age in those days! By the end of the 19th century there were nearly one and a half million servants; most young girls went in...

Ghostbusters #8

...lm and by midnight, when the film had ended, I didn’t dare leave the lounge to go up to bed – imagine climbing those stairs in the semi-darkness, passing the suits of armour, expecting to see the ghost or a bat flying around like the one I’d just seen in the Dracula film  – I was terrified and rang my mum at the venue where they had gone that night.  She immediately thought that the house was on fire or had been broken into and was quite exasperated when I told her that it was only a scary movie that was the reason for the phone call!  Fortunately, they were about to leave and were soon home; I had never been so glad to see them in all my life! Many...

LET THE BANQUET COMMENCE! #11

...nce.  By midnight it was all over and the guests moved to the bar to await their lifts.  The cast, family and friends all sat by the fire when everyone had gone home to do a bit of a post mortem on the evening – discussing the pros and cons and how to do things a bit differently for the next banquet which was in a week’s time.  We definitely decided to go easy on the beer and wine next time!  Some of the cast stayed the night and helped clean up the next day.  Although the banquets were good fun on the night they were also a lot of hard work next day as the whole house needed cleaning and the beautiful wooden floors needed polishing.  For the next two...

Coming Of Age #21

...mes for a midnight swim!  Once we had been to a fancy dress party where Kev had dressed up as a knight with tights and tabard on – these were abandoned at the side of the pool where our friend’s gardener found them next day.  Apparently he took our friend to one side and whispered “I think your young lady has left these behind”.  His face must have been a picture when Carl said “Oh no, those are Kev’s!”   All the people renting our apartments were now young men and women and they soon became part of the crowd in the Meynell.  Every weekend would find us all creeping along the basement passage to one flat or another for a party – at least n...

The Graveyard Shift..... #24

...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 longue, traveller’s chest, games table, chairs or paintings (whatever he had sold that week) and carry it through the grounds, then through the churchyard, finally meeting with the buyer who was waiting with a large van in the lane!  The things you do to help out!  It was like being in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel – carrying a suspicious item through the graveyard by...

Ghostbusters! #8

...lm and by midnight, when the film had ended, I didn’t dare leave the lounge to go up to bed – imagine climbing those stairs in the semi-darkness, passing the suits of armour, expecting to see the ghost or a bat flying around like the one I’d just seen in the Dracula film – I was terrified and rang my mum at the venue where they had gone that night.  She immediately thought that the house was on fire or had been broken into and was quite exasperated when I told her that it was only a scary movie that was the reason for the phone call!  Fortunately, they were about to leave and were soon home; I had never been so glad to see them in all my life! Many ye...