Story Search Results

More Tea Vicar? #12

...ns of our ghost was buried – the small child whose cries we often heard. She was buried in the churchyard and we had found her grave after hearing the noises and stories about her. I think she was about 9 years old. Mum next to the ghost's grave   Because we lived at the Hall the vicar expected to see us at church every week; however, weekends were our busy time so we didn’t go every week but managed to attend at Easter and Christmas. I have to say we were non too keen on going to church as we had to be on our best behaviour (something which didn’t sit easily with us as you’ve probably guessed!). Afterwards though we all went across the road to t...

Ghouls Galore! #18

...be making ghostly sounds and chasing each other into dark rooms off the main route. Good job no-one could hear us! The spooky basement corridor   As everyone had heard about the ghost stories at the Hall, occasionally at these parties we would make an ouija board and try and contact the spirits. Most people had had a few spirits of a different kind by then and we would all sit round the table watching the glass move around the board wondering who was pushing it. Afterwards no-one admitted that they did and then we’d all be wondering and worrying! Once, while playing this game, a curtain fell down from the window and freaked us all out! One or two peopl...

Midnight pool parties #21

...we had a ghost at each end of the house.  What a night! We were now spending more of our social time in the Meynell Arms, the local pub.  Every time we went in everybody wanted an update on what was going on at the Hall with my parents and their quabbles.   It was a bit like a local soap opera!   We had also become engaged and I stayed at Kev’s house in the week so I could get to work easily having failed my driving test a couple of times; weekends were spent at the Hall.   Hoar Cross and the surrounding villages were a bit of a Birmingham commuter belt area and a lot of the families were quite well-to-do.  We met up with a crowd of young people in...

Skools out for summer! #12

...re seeing ghosts! Another time we decided to play tricks on the visitors by using the secret door in the Library. There were two secret doors, one which was always open and used by the visitors to wend their way around the house and the other was on the opposite side of the room and always closed. The doors, when closed, looked like part of the bookshelves and had a little brass catch on the ledge which you pressed to open them. One day I stood in the Library near the door and smiled at some visitors so they saw me standing there. When they turned to look out of the window I quickly released the catch and Janine and I swapped places – as they turned back and...

Moving On #35

...seen the ghost of a man in the Entrance Hall (the same one I had seen many years before) so the house was obviously still haunted! The grounds had had a lot of time spent on them and they were back to how they looked in the Victorian days when the Meynell family first lived there. Whilst filming the rooms it really made me appreciate what a beautiful house this was to live in and how fortunate we were to have such an unusual childhood living there. The Elizabethan Gateway   Not long after we visited in 2005 my mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and died at the age of 73 in 2008 – eight months later my dad died at the age of 92. I often think...

An Englishman's Home is his Mansion! #2

...AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME IS HIS MANSION! My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and the whole process of moving house was done over the summer months. We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and they say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in the day, for all you history buffs out there! Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in these historic houses as a child. My dad used to be a racing driver in the 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donnington Park. During the 1960s...