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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...

New Year jinks! #11

NEW YEAR JINKS!       The New Year’s Eve balls at the Hall were usually the highlight of the year.  After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week throughout the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party.  In those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal.  At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt and sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes.  Down the Long Gallery he would slowly...

Becoming a rock chick #18

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 in Uttoxeter which still had wooden desks with inkwells in them!  Even the teachers wore their mortar boards and gowns just like the ones at Eton and Harrow – or the Beano!   However, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends and we would go into town every lunch time to meet up with a group of guys that worked at the local J. C. Bamford 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...

VENTURES NEW #10

...ne or two balls that we had at the Hall, but I was still quite young and nothing came of it. The Bamford’s banquet  was hugely successful and they came back a few more times (see pic below) – the Americans of course thoroughly enjoyed being in a stately home and asked my dad if he was the butler!  He didn’t take too kindly to that but they were more impressed when they found out that he was the owner!   And they tipped well too! Banquet Tankard Hall Coat of Arms JCB Personailsed   So during that summer my parents auditioned for a King, a jester, entertainers and singers and by August they had a team of ‘am-dram’ actors ready to st...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

...lete with balls and cues.  My dad decided to sell this as we didn’t need it but what a job it was carrying it down corridors and staircases to get it out of the house!  I can see why it stayed!  These were the only two things that had been left behind – the rest of the house was completely empty apart from lots of dust and spiders! Back down in the basement were all the old kitchens including the Boot Boy’s room, laundry room, pantries and sculleries.  Along the wall of the passageway was a row of bells and the names of the rooms to which they belonged – these were here so that the servants could be summoned to do their master’s bidding – they w...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #20

...were few balls and dances and hardly any hunting and shooting.  I think the First World War had a lot to do with staff cutbacks as society was changing between the wars and Lady Dorothy’s two daughters weren’t really interested in high living and parties – they wanted to do something useful with their lives.  They had spent much of their childhood in the schoolroom at the Hall.  The sons of the family were away at boarding school but the girls had a governess and nursery maid to look after them. Dorothy had her own personal maid at the age of 11.   The schoolroom was situated just off the main entrance hall on the ground floor and the maid would brin...