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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

HOAR CROSS HALL – LIFE BELOW STAIRS:    This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at the Hall from the 1870s to the 1950s when the Hall became empty. They were an essential part of keeping a big house running but were often not appreciated by the aristocracy as they went about their day to day duties. The life of a servant in Victorian times was a hard one. They had to rise at 5am to clean <span class='highlight'>andspan> light all the fires <span class='highlight'>andspan> dust <span class='highlight'>andspan> polish the floors, then do a day’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to a great age in those days! By the end of the 19th century there were nearly one <span class='highlight'>andspan> a hal...

Motor Racing Days #9

MOTOR RACING DAYS Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross Hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the Hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s. Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War <span class='highlight'>andspan> spent a lot of time in North Africa. After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park <span class='highlight'>andspan> he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s. After that he moved onto cars <span class='highlight'>andspan> drove a Cooper 5...

Skools out for summer #13

When Hugo <span class='highlight'>andspan> Emily Meynell built Hoar Cross Hall it included a whole estate with it, namely kitchen gardens, greenhouses, stables, a farm <span class='highlight'>andspan> cottages. Old Hall (their original home) was also on the estate <span class='highlight'>andspan> was accessed via a private road, which ran from the main road. By the time the seventies came along the stable block <span class='highlight'>andspan> Old Hall were private houses <span class='highlight'>andspan> another part of Old Hall had been made into a children’s home. Emily Meynell had started this home in the Victorian days, calling it ‘The Home of the Good Shepherd’ but it was for boys only at that time. When we were there it was a mixed home <span class='highlight'>andspan> run by a husb<span class='highlight'>andspan> <span class='highlight'>andspan> wife couple. They used to have...

Motor Racing Days #64

Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross Hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s motor racing career in the years leading up to moving to the Hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story.  With the Silverstone Gr<span class='highlight'>andspan> Prix recently in the news, I thought this would be quite topical! As mentioned my dad used to be a motor racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s.  Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War <span class='highlight'>andspan> spent a lot of time in North Africa.  After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park <span class='highlight'>andspan> he raced there up to the...

Becoming a rock chick #18

BECOMING A ROCK CHICK:        My schooldays were coming to an end now <span class='highlight'>andspan> 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 <span class='highlight'>andspan> gowns just like the ones at Eton <span class='highlight'>andspan> Harrow – or the Beano!   However, in the last two years there I had made a few good friends <span class='highlight'>andspan> 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 <span class='highlight'>andspan> one of the first films I watched was ‘Easy Rider’.  They also went to a lot of concerts...

Motor Racing Days #9

MOTOR RACING DAYS:     Although my blogs are about living at Hoar Cross Hall, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the Hall as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s.   Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War <span class='highlight'>andspan> spent a lot of time in North Africa.  After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park <span class='highlight'>andspan> he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s.  After that he moved onto cars <span class='highlight'>andspan> d...