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The Church of the Holy Angels #55

Many stately homes had Churches built near them or even a chapel inside them, as was done at Hoar Cross Hall. However, the Church that was built in the grounds of the Hall became known as 'The Cathedral of the Midlands' due to its magnificent structure and is generally regarded as one of the finest Victorian Churches in the country. It resembles a cathedral in miniature, being more like an English minster than a humble village Church. When Emily Meynell Ingram's husband, Hugo died in 1871 from a hunting accident, she wanted to keep his memory alive. They had only been married for eight years and she had no children to comfort her and so in 1872 she commissioned...

Christmas High Jinks! #31

The sounds of La Golondrina floated through the air as Viv sat at the grand piano. How pleased she was that someone had asked them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months. Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv the opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it. The piano was in the Library and suited the room perfectly. She could hear her father and an antique dealer talking in the Long Gallery as they haggled over the price of a painting that he was selling. Viv gazed out of the window as she played and thought back to the Midsummer’s Eve Ball that they’d had a few months ago. I...

Get me to the Church on time! #30

My dad was having to move out of Hoar Cross Hall and we had decided to bring our wedding forward so we that we could get married in the Church in the grounds and then have the reception afterwards in the Hall, which was after all our family home. The wedding preparations were going quite well and as we knew lots of musicians it wasn’t hard to find a local band and a DJ to do the disco. A friend of my dad’s offered to do the catering and the bar was set up with plenty of kegs from the local brewery in Burton on Trent. I had two bridesmaids and we all went to Birmingham one day to choose our dresses and shoes – it was all kept very simple really as I had no...

Christmas High Jinks #72

The sounds of 'La Golondrina' floated through the air as Viv sat at the grand piano.  How pleased she was that someone had asked them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months.  Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv the opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it.  The piano was in the Library and suited the room perfectly.  She could hear her father and an antique dealer talking in the Long Gallery as they haggled over the price of a painting that he was selling.  Viv gazed out of the window as she played and thought back to the Midsummer’s Eve Ball that they’d had a few...

Christmas High Jinks #87

Here's a true story to get you in the mood for Christmas!  My brother and I were definitely not good children and we were always amazed that Santa still left us gifts on Christmas Eve!  We were like 'elves behaving badly'!  Hope you enjoy it! The sounds of "La Golondrina" floated through the air as Viv sat at the grand piano.  How pleased she was that someone had asked them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months.  Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv the opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it.  The piano was in the Library and suited the room perfectly.  She could h...

Hickleton Hall and the Meynells #38

...came from Christ Church in Oxford in 1852.  He would later become the famous author Lewis Carroll who wrote 'Alice in Wonderland' among other stories.  The mirror over the fireplace inspired his story about 'Alice through the looking glass'.  When Emily got married in 1863 she took this mirror with her to her new home, Hoar Cross Hall, and for many decades it hung over the fireplace in the Library until the Meynells left in the 1950s.  However, the present owner tracked the mirror down and it is now back in the Library on the mantlepiece again where Emily herself used to look at it!  (I go into more detail about this story in my blog 'Alice - the ghost in t...