Hoar Cross Hall, where I grew up, is in the village of Hoar Cross, so small that it is almost a hamlet. The only thing that defines it as a village is the fact that it has a place of worship which is The Church of the Holy Angels, built by Emily Meynell in the 1870s in memory of her husband, Hugo. The name of the village was first recorded in 1230 and called ‘Horcros’ and may refer to a grey boundary cross which stood as a marker but is now long gone. No-one is entirely sure if this cross...

Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross Hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s motor racing career in the years leading up to moving to the Hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. With the Silverstone Grand Prix recently in the news, I thought this would be quite topical! As mentioned my dad used to be a motor racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s. Because of this he became a despatch rider ...

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 chu...

With the summer season well and truly upon us and Wimbledon in full swing, I thought a blog about tennis might be in order! The game of tennis first started in the Mediaeval days and involved hitting a ball with a bare hand and later with a glove. By the 16th century the glove had become a racquet and the game had moved to an enclosed playing area and the rules had stabilized. This was known as ‘real tennis’. The word tennis came into use in English in the mid-14th century from French, v...

Hoar Cross Hall was clearly a very different house in the Victorian era compared to today. Like other country houses it has not been immune from the social and economic changes affecting all walks of life over the last hundred years. At the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1837 the local landowner with his country house and estate was the focal point of the community, often dispensing law, charity and education. The estate would also provide employment for the local people and over fi...