Story Search Results

The Grand Opening #5

...on a hot summer’s day. Soon everyone was asking for one too. My dad was good at that sort of thing and we certainly didn’t mind helping out! My family sitting in the Entrance Hall cafe   I seem to remember we had quite a good number of people that first Easter as we had advertised well; we stayed open until the first week of October, being open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. I always helped out by serving in the café (once I’d finished my baking!) and sometimes on the Reception desk, taking entrance fees, to give my mum a break. First visitors to the Hall   Along with the house opening, people would hire the Hall for eve...

Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

...hing! One summer there were over 30 bats whizzing around the house trying to find nests for their young. We had just had a burglar alarm installed with infra-red beams which kept going off in the night. I think our cat set it off once or twice but the bats caused most of the upset and my poor dad had to keep getting up to see who had broken in – fortunately the only thing broken was his night’s sleep! The bats eventually settled in a large light fitting bowl which hung over the main staircase and were left in peace to rear their young. Baby bats in the light fitting!   Don’t miss next week’s instalment:    'Calendar Girls and Front Covers'  ...

Eat, Drink & Be Merry #11

...ring that summer my parents auditioned for a King, a jester, entertainers and singers and by August they had a team of ‘am-dram’ actors ready to start rehearsals. They also advertised for wenches and serving girls of which I became one – at 14 years old this became my new weekend job! But the banquets were about to change all our lives - for better and for worse.   Don’t miss next week’s instalment: 'Mediaeval Mayhem'   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends. Follow me around my childhood home in my 'Tour of the Hall' – click here to view and subscribe to my YouTube...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #13

...It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets. All the cast would come round to the house each week for rehearsals and my mum and one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts and blouses for the wenches. My mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a King, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist and various wenches and serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before and so we all gathered at the Hall one day in ea...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #17

...uring the summer months. Lady Dorothy’s daughter, also called Dorothy, was born in 1908 and was an accomplished pianist and conductor of the Hoar Cross choral society and had a life long interest in the arts and music. She also played the pipe organ in the chapel at the Hall for the morning services there. However, this young lady didn’t want to conform to the usual things of her society such as parties and husband hunting! She begged her parents to let her train for some useful occupation and they finally agreed to let her train as a secretary in London. She went on to become the private secretary to the Bishop of Portsmouth. Dorothy never married and when...

The Graveyard Shift #23

...uring the summer months Kev and I would open the house to the public. As well as a bad atmosphere between my parents there was also a bad atmosphere between me and my mum and mum and Kev, so we were all trying to avoid each other! My mum had taken over the West Wing apartment when the tenants left, leaving my dad with one less rental income. She was also putting Yale locks on all the rooms that she used in the house as well as any storage rooms used for the banquets. This infuriated my dad who obviously didn’t have access to them once the locks went on. One of these rooms was the cupboard off the Entrance Hall which held the meter boxes, so we now had no acces...