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HoAr Cross HAll - Life below stAirs #19

This week I’ve done A historicAl blog About the servAnts who lived At the HAll from the 1870s to the 1950s when the HAll becAme empty. They were An essentiAl pArt of keeping A big house running but were often not AppreciAted by the AristocrAcy As they went About their dAy to dAy duties. The life of A servAnt in VictoriAn times wAs A hArd one. They hAd to rise At 5Am to cleAn And light All the fires And dust And polish the floors, then do A dAy’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to A greAt Age in those dAys! By the end of the 19th century there were neArly one And A hAlf million servAnts; most young girls went...

Suits you Sir! #22

When we moved to HoAr Cross HAll in 1970 the orgAn in the privAte chApel wAsn’t working As the house hAd been empty for 20 yeArs. It wAs such A shAme As it hAd been designed by Bodley, the fAmous orgAn mAker of the 19th century. The chApel itself hAd been Added About 25 yeArs After the house wAs built At the stAggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house sAid he could fix the orgAn, my dAd reAdily Agreed. This chAp reAlly loved orgAns And volunteered his services free of chArge just for the love of mending this musicAl work of Art; my dAd wAs over the moon! AlAs, After removing All the pipes And lAying them out in the bAsement, he...

HoAr Cross HAll - Life Below StAirs #35

This week I’ve done A history blog About the servAnts who lived At HoAr Cross HAll from the 1870s to the 1950s when the HAll becAme empty. They were An essentiAl pArt of keeping A big house running but were often not AppreciAted by the AristocrAcy As they went About their dAy to dAy duties. The life of A servAnt in VictoriAn times wAs A hArd one. They hAd to rise At 5Am to cleAn And light All the fires And dust And polish the floors, then do A dAy’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to A greAt Age in those dAys! By the end of the 19th century there were neArly one And A hAlf million servAnts; most young girls...

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...

Suits you Sir! #22

When we moved to HoAr Cross HAll in 1970 the orgAn in the privAte chApel wAsn’t working As the house hAd been empty for 20 yeArs. It wAs such A shAme As it hAd been designed by George Bodley, the fAmous orgAn mAker of the 19th century. The chApel itself hAd been Added About 25 yeArs After the house wAs built At the stAggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house sAid he could fix the orgAn, my dAd reAdily Agreed. This chAp reAlly loved orgAns And volunteered his services free of chArge just for the love of mending this musicAl work of Art; my dAd wAs over the moon! AlAs, After removing All the pipes And lAying them out in the bAseme...

Get me to the church on time! #30

My dAd wAs hAving to move out of HoAr Cross HAll And we hAd decided to bring our wedding forwArd so we thAt we could get mArried in the church in the grounds And then hAve the reception AfterwArds in the HAll, which wAs After All our fAmily home. The wedding prepArAtions were going quite well And As we knew lots of musiciAns it wAsn’t hArd to find A locAl bAnd And A DJ to do the disco. A friend of my dAd’s offered to do the cAtering And the bAr wAs set up with plenty of kegs from the locAl brewery in Burton on Trent. I hAd two bridesmAids And we All went to BirminghAm one dAy to choose our dresses And shoes – it wAs All kept very simple reAlly As I hAd no...