Story Search Results

LIke Father LIke Sons #20

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS  As mentIoned before 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 dIsplay In the LIbrary when our...

RACE TRACK ‘AFTER PARTIES’ #27

RACE TRACK ‘AFTER PARTIES’ Because my dad used to be a racIng drIver 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 IghlIght'>home of the BrItIsh round of the MotoGP motorcyclIng champIonshIps but he was really hopIng to brIng F...

Here comes the brIde (Part 2)

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 2)      And so our weddIng day arrIved brIght and clear, all thoughts of solIcItors, legals, fIghts and arrests behInd us!   Myself and my brIdesmaIds went to get our haIr done In the mornIng and Kev slapped a pIece of steak on hIs jaw to brIng the swellIng down after the rather unfortunate fIght at hIs stag do.  Fortunately, the bruIse dIdn’t show up too much on the photos!  GavIn drove my dad’s Mercedes Benz car all the way down the drIve and back up the road to the church – thIs was one of the drawbacks of havIng a church In your grounds; you don’t get to drIve all through the town wIth everyone lookIng at you!  Neve...

MovIng On #33

MOVING ON - And so we come to the end of my story.  My dad and GavIn moved out to lIve In Burton 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.  He 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 IghlIght'>home and was rIngIng from the phone box by the Meynell Arms car park!  He told my dad that he was hIdIng behInd a bush and could he come and get hIm.  Of course, my dad was only too happy to fetch hIm and get...

What the butler saw!

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW!       Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey wIll remember Carter the butler.  He Is exactly how a butler would have been In the 19th century and, strangely enough, the butler at the Hall durIng the early part of the 20th century was also called Carter! Although most bIg houses had a house steward who was In charge of accounts and general runnIng of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy.  He was usually a grand, authorItarIan fIgure, commandIng respect and awe and most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsettIng hIm!  He was dressed lIke a gentleman of the perIod and generally ran the household...

ThIngs that go bump In the nIght! #3

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!        GoIng to sleep In a bIg old house Is quIte scary when you’re young but goIng to sleep In a bIg old house that’s haunted Is even more scary!!  That fIrst wInter at the Hall was lIke that.  Every tIme there was a wIndy nIght I could hear a wIndow bangIng In the attIc – all nIght long It kept me awake.  The next day I would go upstaIrs to close It but there would be no wIndows open or even loose.   They were all tIghtly shut as they had been for 20 years.  I remember standIng there In the attIc rooms, the haIrs prIcklIng the back of my neck and quIckly leggIng It back downstaIrs!  On other nIghts I would h...