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Home fit for a King #53

...the then King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother). He became Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was in 1969 at Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Over the years he has been involved in many charities with a particular interest in climate change. He founded the youth charity the Princes Trust in 1976 and also owns and runs the Duchy of Cornwall estates. He married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005 and together they will now rule the new monarchy from BucKingham Palace supported by his son and heir William and other members of the Royal family. We wish them well in their future together. Charles and Camilla on a trip to Jamaica      Don't mi...

A Home fit for a King #21

...the then King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He became Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was in 1969 at Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Over the years he has been involved in many charities with a particular interest in climate change. He founded the youth charity the Princes Trust in 1976 and also owns and runs the Duchy of Cornwall estates. He married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005 and together they will now rule the new monarchy from BucKingham Palace supported by his son and heir William and other members of the Royal family. We wish them well in their future together. Charles and Camilla in 2008   Don't miss next week's historical blog. If yo...

Meet the Neighbours - Coombe Abbey # 81

...Although this house isn’t quite so neighbourly to Hoar Cross Hall as the others in this series, it is loosely linked to the hall as it was the inspiration for the Mediaeval Banquets that my parents ran in the 1970s.  They went along one night, to one of their banquets, to see what the format was and saw immediately how popular they were and so decided to start their own brand of banquets.  The Coombe Abbey banquets were very traditional and had minstrels playing lutes etc while people ate their meal.  The entertainment too was typical of mediaeval amusement of the times and I remember my parents saying it was an enjoyable night out but not terribly lively!�...

The Halifax Estates - Garrowby #46

...Hugo Meynell-Ingram and his wife Emily Charlotte built Hoar Cross Hall to be their home after getting married in 1863. Emily was the daughter of Sir Charles Wood, 1st VIscount Halifax who owned considerable estates in the north of England. Their wealth came from the discovery of coal on their ancestral estate. In addition to this Sir Charles had a very successful political career, owning many seats in Garrowby and Pocklington near York; Hickleton near Doncaster and a home in Belgrave Square, London. He was a member of the Whig party, which in those days was likened to the Liberal party of today and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846-52. In the 1850...

Ventures New! #10

...VENTURES NEW We were now in our third year at Hoar Cross Hall and our lives were always busy keeping on top of the weeds and general upkeep of the house. My dad expected us children to help as much as possible, which we hated, and much of our time was spent trying to hide from him to get out of doing the chores. But sometimes we didn’t mind and we happily pulled an old trolley into the woods every now and then to collect wood for the fires and sometimes as a family we would spend a day clearing parts of the woods and grounds. My mum had hired a lady from the VIllage to help with the housework and we had also taken on a retired chap called Mr Hickman to do som...

LET THE BANQUET COMMENCE! #11

...LET THE BANQUETS COMMENCE!: It was the end of the summer season and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets.  All the cast would come round to the house each week and my mum and one or two other ladies were busy maKing the skirts and blouses for the wenches, although the main costumes were bought.   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...