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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #18

HOAR CROSS HALL – LIFE BELOW STAIRS:   This week I’ve done a history 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...

Moving Out#32

...up with a 1950s style twin tub washing machine!  Well, it matched the age of the house I suppose!  Many a week whilst washing, I cursed my dad for buying it as it always broke down and flooded the kitchen – eventually we threw it out! Another time we went to an auction at a large farm house that was quite local to us and because of the interesting lots its had, quite a few of our wealthy friends were there too.   My dad was also there and the next thing he came rushing up to us and said he’d bought an oven for our new house.  He couldn’t wait to tell us that it had only cost him £1.  Even in those days £1 was ridiculously cheap, especially for an...

An Englishman's Home is his Mansion! #2

...AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME IS HIS MANSION! My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months. We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there! Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child. My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donnington Park. During the 1960s...

Moving into the Manor #2

...MOVING INTO THE MANOR:          My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months.  We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there!  Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child.  My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donington Park.  During the...

Like Father, Like Sons #21

...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, 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 them on d...

Rags to Riches #15

...n the mid 1950s my dad sold the alabaster works to Louis Martin, who had just arrived in England from Jamaica. He was a weight lifter and turned the works into a gym and weight training centre. He went on to win medals in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and also won four world titles, four European titles and broke four world records! In 2018 he was added to the Derby Walk of Fame and has a star on the pavement there which was unveiled by his son in  2019. After the First World War the market places were full of tea chests with swords and guns from the Boer War and the First World War. My dad found all this stuff fascinating and started collecting it when he about...