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Here Comes the Bride (Part 1) #32

...ay at his best man’s house. But his best man had other ideas for Kev’s last night as a bachelor – as he worked in the entertainment industry he hired two strippers who turned up at the pub and started to do their act. The Landlady was a bit strait laced and ordered them all out so where to go now? They all decided to come back to the Hall as two of our friends now lived in the East Wing apartments, and they carried on with their party there.     When I came home and went up to bed, I passed the door leading to the apartments and could hear a lot of noise. I went into the East Wing and listened at the door; it sounded like they were having a lot more...

Here comes the bride (Part 1) #27

...ay at his best man’s house. But his best man had other ideas for Kev’s last night as a bachelor – as he worked in the entertainment industry he hired two strippers who turned up at the pub and started to do their act. The Landlady was a bit strait laced and ordered them all out so where to go now? They all decided to come back to the Hall as two of our friends now lived in the East Wing apartments, and they carried on with their party there.     When I came home and went up to bed, I passed the door leading to the apartments and could hear a lot of noise. I went into the East Wing and listened at the door; it sounded like they were having a lot more...

The Grand Opening #5

...THE GRAND OPENING:     And so we move into 1971 and the preparation of Hoar Cross Hall so we could open it to the public by Easter. During the run up to buying the house my dad had been buying furniture, carpets and paintings like crazy and I remember our previous home being jam packed with chaise longues, sideboards and carved chests as well as all the suits of armour that he already had. This furniture was now set out in all the rooms. My mum’s collection of Victorian costumes were on display in the Ballroom as well as my dad’s collection of silver plated ‘display’ armour, which hung around the panelled walls; the suits of armour and the many painti...

Motor Racing Days #64

...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 during the Second World War and spent a lot of time in North Africa.  After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park and he raced there up to the...

THE TAX man COMETH #29

...THE TAX man COMETH - The court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the house.  In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in.  He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too!  He eventually found a house in nearby Burton on Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of a lot of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite.  He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office.  Back in those days they used to check advertisements in the newspapers and t...

The Tax man Cometh! #28

...THE TAX man COMETH:       My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home, Hoar Cross Hall. In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in. He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventually found a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of a lot of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite. He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office. Back in those days they used to check adverti...