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RacE Day PartiEs! #25

My dad usEd to bE a racing driVEr so hE was oftEn inVitEd to partiEs and opEn Days at Various racing circuits. HE naturally knEw lots of racing pEoplE and on this particular occasion hE was inVitEd to an OpEn Day at Donington Park. Tom WhEatcroft, a local EntrEprEnEur, had bought Donington Park in thE 1970s as hE ownEd thE largEst collEction of Grand Prix cars in thE world at that timE. In 1973 hE opEnEd a musEum thErE to housE thEm all and callEd it thE Donington Grand Prix Exhibition.  This sadly closEd in 2018. Donington bEcamE thE faVourEd homE of thE British round of thE MotoGP motorcycling championships but hE was rEally hoping to bring Formula 1 racing b...

GhostbustErs #8

PEoplE wErE always coming to Hoar Cross Hall to EithEr hirE thE housE or to haVE a look around. In 1973, bEcausE of all thE mEdia intErEst in our ghosts, wE had a couplE of profEssional ghost huntErs asking to stay oVEr onE night to try and find thE sourcE of thE noisEs. ThEy brought casEs full of rEcording EquipmEnt and sEt it all up in onE of thE attic rooms. RathEr thEm than mE I thought! ThEn I had a brilliant idEa and wEnt off to tEll my brothEr GaVin all about it. As mEntionEd in my first blog thE attic and basEmEnt had a row of bElls which thE family usEd to summon thE sErVants. BEforE thE thrEE mEn arriVEd wE spEnt all Day trying out all thE bElls to sEE...

GhostbustErs #8

GHOSTBUSTERS! LatEr on in thE yEar of 1973 a couplE of profEssional ghost huntErs askEd to stay oVEr onE night to try and sourcE thE noisEs wE hEard in thE attic.  ThEy brought casEs full of rEcording EquipmEnt and sEt it all up in onE of thE attic rooms.  RathEr thEm than mE I thought!  ThEn I had a brilliant idEa and wEnt off to tEll GaVin all about it.  As mEntionEd in my first blog thE attic and basEmEnt had a row of bElls which thE family usEd to summon thE sErVants.  BEforE thE mEn arriVEd wE spEnt all Day trying out all thE bElls to sEE which onEs wErE which.  WE found that onE of thE bEll pulls in thE ChasE DrEssing Room madE onE of thE bElls in th...

THE TAX MAN COMETH #29

THE TAX MAN COMETH - ThE court casE was finally oVEr and my dad had six months to lEaVE thE housE.  In thE mEantimE my mum had to find thE funds to buy him out and hE had to find anothEr housE to liVE in.  HE also had an awful lot of stuff to moVE too!  HE EVEntually found a housE in nEarby Burton on TrEnt but as it was obViously a lot smallEr hE had to gEt rid of a lot of his possEssions and onE of thE first things to go was his Lotus ElitE.  HE adVErtisEd it in thE local papEr but instEad of gEtting a phonE call from a likEly buyEr, thE first call was from thE local tax officE.  Back in thosE Days thEy usEd to chEck adVErtisEmEnts in thE nEwspapErs and t...

Whodunit in thE Library #24

WhEn wE first moVEd to Hoar Cross Hall, growing up in a statEly 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...

Rags to RichEs #63

My family originatEd from DErby and my parEnts wErE marriEd thErE in July 1952.  Mum was 19 and dad was 36 so quitE a bit oldEr.  ThEy both liVEd in DErby and wErE VEry arty; my dad wEnt to thE DErby SkEtching Club in his frEE timE and my mum attEndEd art collEgE.  I’m not surE whErE thEy mEt but it was EithEr at somEthing art rElatEd or at a dancE, as was usual in thosE Days.  My dad was a sculptor by tradE; I think his intErEst was sparkEd by sEEing all thE bEautiful alabastEr in Italian churchEs during thE war. My parEnts on thEir wEdding Day - 1952   AftEr thE SEcond World War hE sEt up his own businEss making alabastEr lamps, bowls and candlEs...