Story Search Results

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

...so a carp pool for their fish stock. In total there were about 50 servants employed by the Meynell family which included cooks, housemaids, chambermaids, a lady’s maid, a governess, a nanny, a butler, footmen and a house-keeper among others. All staff were expected to attend the 9am service which was held in the Chapel in the house. They were also expected to attend services at the church which had been built in the grounds; however, they weren’t allowed to walk down the drive to the church but had to make a detour around the perimeter of the grounds so that they wouldn’t be seen by the family! In the Victorian days a lowly housemaid earned about £10 a y...

Hoar Cross Hall - A bit of History #54

...swimming pool. However, the funding never transpired and they were asked to leave in 1969, leaving the house unfinished and the gardens in sad neglect.In 1970 my parents, William and Gwynyth Bickerton-Jones bought the Hall and we settled there for nearly 20 years until it was sold and became the Spa Hotel that you see today. Don’t miss next week’s instalment:   'The Church of the Holy Angels'   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning click here and please feel free to share with your friends. Follow me on a personal tour of my childhood home on YouTube.OUT NOW!!  'My Dad Bought a Mansion' book is available on Amazon.  ...

Skools out for Summer! #58

..."Midnight pool parties"   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning please click here and feel free to share with your friends. Follow me on a personal tour of my childhood home on YouTube.OUT NOW!!  'My Dad Bought a Mansion' book is available on Amazon....

Like Father, Like Sons #19

...As previously mentioned in earlier blogs my dad used to be a racing driver during the 1950s and ran his own team in the 1960s, travelling all over Europe in his trusty Volkswagon van with his two mechanics and driver. He didn’t have big sponsorship money behind him and most of it was done on a shoestring but he came back with lots of funny stories of their van breaking down or some rural ‘hotel’ that they had stayed in. From each country that he visited he always brought me back a doll dressed in the traditional costume of that country. There was quite a collection and I still have them; I used to put them on display in the Library when our house was open...

Behind the green baize door #47

...liar with pool and snooker tables showing off their red and green baize cloth. Baize was also used as clothing for monks, nuns and soldiers as it was very warm and hard wearing. Is there no end to the talents of this serviceable cloth? The green baize door was usually at the end of a long corridor leading from the kitchens, which were strategically placed at one end of the house for deliveries from the kitchen garden and home farm. Long before labour-saving devices, servants staggered up staircases with hot water for baths and coal for the many fireplaces. When you went through the green baize door it was like entering another world – a hive of activity and...