Story Search Results

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...

More Tea VIcar? #12

MORE TEA VICAR?   DurIng the long summer holIdays It was easy to get bored.  As there was no publIc transport from Hoar Cross and no chIldren lIvIng nearby, we three chIldren had to make our own entertaInment and we were always havIng adventures and gettIng up to mIschIef – a bIt lIke the Famous FIve, but wIthout a dog!  We would roam around the vIllage or explore the basement.  My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over the years IncludIng gas masks and fIeld phones from World War 2.  The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of tIme down there restorIng antIques to sell.  He had one of the fIeld phones In hIs...

HysterIcal ProductIons #16

HYSTERICAL PRODUCTIONS: By the end of 1974 we had done about 40 banquets 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, IghlIght'>whereas when we fIrst started, we had got 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 I am’ 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 beIng chatted up by...

The Schoolroom MaId's Story

THE SCHOOLROOM MAID’S STORY:       For the fIrst 75 years of the Hall’s hIstory about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell famIly In the house and grounds.  Among these was a young gIrl of fIfteen who started work In 1920 as a Schoolroom MaId.  Her name was MIss Inez SophIa Large and she had connectIons to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, WIllIam and Mary Tooth, who lIved In the vIllage IghlIght'>where WIllIam was the blacksmIth; hIs smIthy was just along from the Meynell publIc house.  He had worked on the Ironwork of the Hall durIng Its constructIon In the 1860s.  Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wIfe of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, In...

ReburbIshIng our MansIon #4

REFURBISHING OUR MANSION :       We moved Into the Hall durIng the summer holIdays and my parents quIckly realIsed that they had a lot of work on theIr hands to make the place habItable as well as to earn some money from It.  As prevIously mentIoned, there was an East WIng and a West WIng to the house.  My dad decIded to convert the fIrst floor rooms of each wIng Into three separate apartments; he had done thIs at our prevIous house.  ThIs would generate Income from rents untIl we got the maIn house open to the publIc.  It wasn’t a bIg job to convert the rooms as the East WIng had four maIn rooms and two bathrooms already there, whIch would have been u...