Story Search Results

The Kitchen Maid's Story #36

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 was taken by her faTher and used to buy...

Rags to Riches #63

...ocal pub, The Meynell, started having a disco every week which my friend and I went to but which my dad soon put a stop to when he saw The type of ‘long haired yobbos’ that went to it!  I was furious.  These were different times now and my dad, being so much older than me, couldn’t cope with it.  He always dressed in a shirt, tie and waistcoat every day and hated The new look for men of jeans, tee-shirts and long hair!   He certainly didn’t want Them chasing his daughter.  One such long haired suiter rode up The drive on his motor bike one day to see me (we’d been meeting at The disco) and my dad chased him away yelling and shouting at The top of...

Christmas High Jinks #72

...The sounds of 'La Golondrina' floated through The air as Viv sat at The grand piano.  How pleased she was that someone had asked Them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months.  Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv The opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it.  The piano was in The Library and suited The room perfectly.  She could hear her faTher and an antique dealer talking in The Long Gallery as They haggled over The price of a painting that he was selling.  Viv gazed out of The window as she played and thought back to The Midsummer’s Eve Ball that They’d had a few...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #36

...GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  HOAR CROSS:       In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep The 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England The most common of all male servants was The gardener.   At Hoar Cross The head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to The house was The carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to These was a walled kitchen garden.  This supplied The house with all its fruit, vegetables and...

Panto Pranks! #76

...During The 1970s Hoar Cross Hall was used from time to time for local community activities and one such event was The production in 1978 of a traditional pantomime, ‘Midnight and a Journey back to Happiness’.   It was written by local people, Robert Leighton from Yoxall and The Hon. Alexandra Meynell, daughter-in-law of Mrs Jean Meynell whom we had purchased The Hall from.  The words and music were written by local songwriter, David MatThews, who had written songs for quite a few pop artists during The 1960s, his most famous being Matt Munro’s ‘We’re gonna change The world’.  So off to a good start There! For those of you who don’t reside in t...

Hoar Cross Hall meets Downton Abbey #99

...health.  The Meynell family at Hoar Cross Hall  also offered Their home to be used as a hospital but were told that it was unsuitable owing to its isolation and inaccessibility in The country.  However, Lady Mary Meynell opened her London home in Lennox Gardens to be used as a Military Hospital for officers during The First World War.  Indeed, her own son, Francis, stayed There for a while recovering from severe wounds to The back in 1917, something which he never really recovered from resulting in his early death in 1941 at The age of 52.  Hoar Cross Hall was too remote   Although These aristocratic families seemed to live very charmed lives (and...