Story Search Results

What the Butler Saw! #35

...fe in the basement where, I assume, the more valuable items were kept for special occasions. Near to the butler’s room was a Chubb wall safe, which would have been used for keeping guests’ valuables in while they were staying at the Hall. Not unlike a hotel nowadays! He also waited on table at all the meals and at night, secured all doors and windows and checked the fires were safe before retiring to bed. If there was no valet in the house then the butler would also have been responsible for looking after his master’s clothes and hunting gear. In the absence of a footman, he would also answer the door – sounds like he was a very busy man! Let’s hope th...

The War Years and Beyond #37

...THE WAR YEARS AND BEYOND:     During the Second World War, life in country houses changed dramatically. It was no different at Hoar Cross Hall. The flower borders on the main lawns were turfed over to reduce maintenance and vegetables were grown in areas formerly restricted to flowers. Evacuees from Birmingham came to stay for the duration of the war and they lived in the basement, as it was considered to be the safest place. I imagine that they must have been in the care of the servants as they were living amongst them but it must also have been quite exciting for them to move from a bombed out city to the relative safety of the countryside, although they mu...

Calendar Girls and Front Covers #6

...op in the basement, came up at the last minute and quickly put on a smart jacket over his overalls and stood behind the sofa so you couldn’t see his bottom half! I think he did the same thing when we had our photo taken for the brochure that we sold to the visitors but it was good fun and I can now say that I’ve been on the front cover of a magazine!   Don’t miss next week’s instalment: Ghostbusters! If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.            ...

Eat, drink and be merry! #10

...wn to the basement and the cast would come round to help – they were a good bunch of people and every week after the banquet had finished, we would all gather in our kitchen for coffee and a slice of mum’s magnificent fruit cake. I absolutely loved these nights as it gave me a chance to have some fun, meet people and earn some pocket money – something that I would never have done otherwise. Living in such a remote place made me feel very isolated, especially being a young teen yearning for a bit of excitement. Soon though, the cracks would start to show in my parents’ marriage as the banquets took their toll and became evermore successful. Don’t miss...

More tea Vicar? #11

...MORE TEA VICAR?     During the long summer holidays it was easy to get bored. As there was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no children living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like the Famous Five but without a dog! We would roam around the village or explore the basement. My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2. The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down there restoring antiques to sell. He had one of the field phones in his workshop...

Moving Out #34

...MOVING OUT:      And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave Hoar Cross Hall. Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone. Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time. It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement. He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms. He had bought a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start a...