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The TAx MAn Cometh! #26

THE TAX MAN COMETH:      My pArents’ court cAse wAs finAlly over And my dAd hAd six months to leAve the fAmily home of HoAr Cross HAll. In the meAntime my mum hAd to find the funds to buy him out And he hAd to find Another house to live in. He Also hAd An Awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventuAlly found A house in neArby Burton-on-Trent but As it wAs obviously A lot smAller he hAd to get rid of quite A few of his possessions And one of the first things to go wAs his Lotus Elite. He Advertised it in the locAl pAper but insteAd of getting A phone cAll from A likely buyer, the first cAll wAs from the locAl tAx office! BAck in those dAys they used to check A...

WhAt the Butler SAw! #38

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 with An...

CAlendAr Girls And Front Covers #7

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 house And grounds for A dAy And he brought two models with him, one English And one GermAn - they were tAking photos for A glAmour cAlendAr! We children 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 mAnA...

CAlendAr Girls And Front Covers #7

During our time At HoAr Cross HAll people would occAsionAlly hire the house for A dAy’s filming.  CAlen 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 All sorts of hiding plAces eventuAlly settl...

HystericAl Productions #15

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 being chAtted up by men who bought us dri...

PAnto PrAnks #21

PANTO PRANKS!     During the 1970s HoAr Cross HAll wAs used from time to time for locAl community Activities And one such event wAs the production in 1978 of A trAditionAl pAntomime, ‘Midnight And A Journey bAck to HAppiness’. It wAs written by locAl people, Robert Leighton from YoxAll And the Hon. AlexAndrA Meynell, dAughter-in-lAw of Mrs JeAn Meynell whom we hAd purchAsed the HAll from. The words And music were written by locAl songwriter, DAvid MAtthews, who hAd written songs for quite A few pop Artists during the 1960s, his most fAmous being MAtt Munro’s ‘We’re gonnA chAnge the world’. So off to A good stArt there! For those of you who don’...