Story Search Results

Eat, drink and be merry! #10

...rs around Europe’s race tracks.  This appealed to the male visitors while the ladies enjoyed the ever increasing collection of Victorian costumes around the house along with an antique sewing machine and a musical box which played lovely tunes when wound up. Apart from the bank holidays though we didn’t get huge amounts of visitors and my parents started to think of other things they could do.  They had heard about mediaeval banquets being run at a place called Coombe Abbey near Coventry and went along one night to see what it was all about.  It was a banquet serving four or five courses with mediaeval entertainment while you ate.  The whole thing was o...

Skools out for Summer #16

...broad – Europe’s climate and way of life suited me and after two weeks I never wanted to come home but home we did come as we still had our own visitors to attend to in the holidays. Sometimes my friend Janine came round to stay for a few days and this would break the monotony a bit. Once we dressed up in the Victorian dresses that were on show and walked around the grounds and then over to the church in them. People must have thought they were seeing ghosts! The secret door is in the left corner - can you see it?   Another time we decided to play tricks on the visitors by using the secret door in the Library. There were two secret doors, one which w...

Moving house to a mansion #1

...all over Europe to race at all the famous circuits, so the outbuildings were always full of bits of racing cars and their engines!  All this stuff had to be moved and my dad did most of it by travelling back and forth each day with vans and trailers full of the contents of our house and outbuildings – an enormous undertaking!    My parents with the student helpers on moving day   He knew some students and used to pick them up en route to help and they also stayed on to help tame the gardens which were very overgrown, the grass standing about 2 feet high.  As I’m sure you can imagine, after nearly 20 years of neglect, the gardens were a sorry si...

Eat, Drink and be Merry! #10

...rs around Europe’s race tracks.  This appealed to the male visitors while the ladies enjoyed the ever increasing collection of Victorian costumes around the house along with an antique sewing machine and a musical box which played lovely tunes when wound up. Apart from the bank holidays though we didn’t get huge amounts of visitors and my parents started to think of other things they could do.  They had heard about mediaeval banquets being run at a place called Coombe Abbey near Coventry and went along one night to see what it was all about.  It was a banquet serving four or five courses with mediaeval entertainment while you ate.  The whole thing was o...

Ventures New #9

...rs around Europe’s race tracks. This appealed to the male visitors while the ladies enjoyed the ever increasing collection of Victorian costumes around the house along with an antique sewing machine and a musical box which played lovely tunes when wound up. Apart from the bank holidays though we didn’t get huge amounts of visitors and my parents started to think of other things they could do. They had heard about mediaeval banquets being run at a place called Coombe Abbey near Coventry and went along one night to see what it was all about. It was a banquet serving four or five courses with mediaeval entertainment while you ate. The whole thing was overseen...

Behind the Green Baize Door #41

...inings in Europe – also games tables. I'm sure you are all familiar with pool and snooker tables showing off their red and green baize cloth.  Baize was also used as clothing for monks, nuns and soldiers as it was very warm and hard wearing. Is there no end to the talents of this serviceable cloth? A typical green baize door (in need of TLC!)   The green baize door was usually at the end of a long corridor leading from the kitchens, which were strategically placed at one end of the house for deliveries from the kitchen garden and home farm. Long before labour-saving devices, servants staggered up staircases with hot water for baths and coal for the m...