Story Search Results

Temple Newsam and the Meynells

...became a Chapel, the Great Hall was Jacobeanized and the oak staircase installed.  It seems likely that she felt far more 'at home' at Temple Newsam than at Hoar Cross, as the Hall must have held bad memories for her. An ardent lover of art, Emily had acquired a large collection of pictures, especially those of the 17th century.  In accordance with the values of the time, though, she was against anything which was distasteful or erotic.  These paintings would be disposed of or 'cleaned up' by having the picture altered to conceal the offending elements!  How times have changed!   Temple Newsam house near Leeds is now open to the public where you can ex...

Like father, like sons #20

...LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS:        As previously mentioned in earlier blogs my dad used to be a racing driver during the 1950s and ran his own team, Shardlow Motor Racing, in the 1960s, travelling all over Europe in his trusty Volkswagon van (see picture above) with his two mechanics and racing 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 collectio...

Whodunit in the Library? #25

...down the Chapel Hall and into the Library – I really hoped a visitor didn’t see it!  In an attempt to kill them off my dad poured rat poison down the holes in the floorboards in the kitchen and our lounge.  Within a couple of weeks we knew they were dead – because of the awful smell!  So even when we didn’t have to worry about rats in the house, we had to contend with the stench of them decaying under the floorboards!  Then my dad had a brilliant idea – he poured bleach down the holes.  It did sort of have the desired effect but we’ve never forgotten that awful smell of dead rat mixed with bleach!  Eventually we had to get the floor boards up...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #33

...THE SCHOOLROOM MAID’S STORY:      For the first 75 years of the Hall’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house and grounds. Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid. Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large and she had connections to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, William and Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house. He had worked on the ironwork of the Hall during its construction in the 1860s. Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, in nearby New...

Becoming a rock chick #16

...BECOMING A ROCK CHICK:     My schooldays were coming to an end now and I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave. The school itself was an old Victorian grammar school in Uttoxeter which still had wooden desks with inkwells in them! Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns just like the ones at Eton and Harrow – or the Beano! However, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go into town every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local J. C. Bamford firm. They were all into motor bikes and one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’. They also went to a lot of concerts to see live musi...

Like Father, Like Sons #19

...LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS:    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, Shardlow Motor Racing, 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 the...