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Moving Out #32

MOVING OUT:       And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave the 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 st...

Ghouls Galore!

GHOULS  GALORE!    One of the great things about living in a stately home is that you can have a wild party with the loudest of music – and no-one will hear it!  I was now going out with Kev, whom I had met at college.  Mum was a bit disappointed that my sensible boyfriend and I had parted company after 18 months of an on/off relationship but she accepted Kev into the fold and eventually met all the other members of the band.  I think she wanted to put her mind at rest that they were a bunch of nice lads and not a drug crazed rock band eating bats!  Which of course they were! No – I’m only kidding!  After the awful split up at Christmas my parents...

The graveyard shift #24

THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT:    Life carried on at Hoar cross Hall as best it could in difficult circumstances.  My dad continued to go to Arms and Armour Fairs to buy and sell antiques and we also went to a mediaeval banquet in Cheshire one night, although it wasn’t anywhere near as good as ours!  Once or twice we took my dad out with our friends to Derby, where he originated from, and that seemed to cheer him up.  But he really needed to get away from the house for longer periods of time and when he saw a boat advertised for sale at Caernarvon he jumped at the chance and bought it.  It was an ex lifeboat called The Bembo so quite sturdy, although in need of a...

Race day parties #26

RACE DAY PARTIES:     My dad used to be a racing driver so he was often invited to parties and open days at various racing circuits.  He naturally knew lots of racing people and on this particular occasion he was invited to an Open Day at Donington Park.   Tom Wheatcroft, a local entrepreneur, had bought Donington Park in the 1970s as he owned the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world at that time.  In 1973 he opened a museum there to house them all and called it the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition.  Donington became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championships but he was really hoping to bring Formula 1 ra...

See you in Court #27

SEE YOU IN COURT:     The saga of my parents’ split continued as we grew up in our stately home, although their behaviour was anything but stately for most of the time!  Seven years of arguing and fighting were about to come to an end and the solicitors had finally agreed on a  date to go to court.  We carried on helping my dad to run the Hall and he still went to his boat in Caernarfon at weekends to get away from the house but we were all getting weary of it now.  We were young adults and wanting to get on with our own lives.  After five years together we were hoping to get married at some point so we were glad that it was finally going to be sorted...

Moving On - the end of an era #32

MOVING ON – THE END OF AN ERA:       And so, after ten years of growing up and living in a stately home, I have come to the end of my story. After my parents’ divorce it was agreed that my mum bought out my dad's half of the house and he had to leave his dream home forever. He and Gavin moved out to live in Burton-on-Trent and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years. She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin. The singer spent a lot more time at the Hall helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him. When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Pier...