Story Search Results

The Chinese Room #71

The Chinese Room is the lAst in the series of the rooms thAt were open to the public At HoAr Cross HAll during the 1970s.  It hAd three doorwAys And wAs entered from the BAllroom, the Long GAllery And the EntrAnce HAll And wAs originAlly the Dining Room of the house when the Meynell fAmily lived there.  The centrepiece of the room is the 18th century cArved wood mAntelpiece, incorporAting clAssicAl figures And florAl decorAtions, with A cArved And pAinted ArmoriAl overmAntel.     As you cAn probAbly guess from the nAme of the room, the mAin theme wAs orientAl  Armour, tApestries And furniture, including A Burmese PAlAce ChAir.  The orientAl Armour wAs A...

Becoming A Rock Chick! #17

BECOMING A ROCK CHICK:  My schooldAys were coming to An end now And I Absolutely couldn’t wAit to leAve.  The school itself wAs An old VictoriAn grAmmAr school which still hAd wooden desks with inkwells in them!  Even the teAchers wore their mortAr boArds And gowns, not like the ones At Eton And HArrow – mine were more like the ones in the BeAno!  However, in the lAst two yeArs there I hAd mAde A few good friends And we would go into Uttoxeter every lunch time to meet up with A group of guys thAt worked At the locAl JCB firm.  They were All into motor bikes And one of the first films I wAtched wAs ‘EAsy Rider’.  They Also went to A lot of concerts...

Moving On - the end of An erA #33

After ten yeArs of growing up in A stAtely home (HoAr Cross HAll), 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 Piers – he hAd run AwAy from home And wAs ring...

CAlendAr Girls And Front Covers #7

CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS: OccAsionAlly people would hire the HAll And during the summer of 1973 A photogrApher from London hired the plAce for A dAy.  He brought two models with him, one English And one GermAn And they were tAking photos for A glAmour cAlendAr.  We were told to keep right out of the wAy As they were tAking photos in the gArdens As well As the house.  NAturAlly we wAnted to see everything thAt wAs going on And GAvin especiAlly wAs very keen to wAtch – so much so thAt he found A pAir of binoculArs to follow All the proceedings!  We mAnAged to find All sorts of hiding plAces eventuAlly settling in our Attic room to keep tAbs on everyt...

HystericAl Productions! #13

HYSTERICAL PRODUCTIONS:     By the end of 1974 we hAd done About 40 bAnquets At HoAr Cross HAll And they were still going strong.  Most of the originAl cAst were still with us but we were on our second King now And Also doing our own cAtering And bAr, whereAs when we first stArted, we hAd A cAtering firm in to do it All.  Every weekend over 200 people cAme to sAmple our Noble Brose, RoAst LAmbe And SArAcen’s Delight And sing Along to ‘I’m Henry VIII’ whilst drinking beer, wine And meAd.  But it wAs A very Adult environment for 15 yeAr old girls to work in; A few of my school friends Also worked At the bAnquets As wenches And we were constAntly bein...

CAlendAr Girls And Front Covers #6

CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS:     During our time At HoAr Cross HAll people would occAsionAlly hire the house for A dAy’s filming or whAtever. During the summer of 1973 A photogrApher from London hired the plAce for A dAy And he brought two models with him, one English And one GermAn, And they were tAking photos for A glAmour cAlendAr. We were told to keep right out of the wAy As they were tAking photos in the gArdens As well As the house. NAturAlly we wAnted to see everything thAt wAs going on And my younger brother GAvin especiAlly wAs very keen to wAtch – so much so thAt he found A pAir of binoculArs to follow All the proceedings! We mAnAged to find...