Story Search Results

The War Years and Beyond #36

...gh called Hollybush Park. I remember Mrs Meynell telling us a funny story about how her husband had come home one day and told her he had bought another house. He was raving on about the ‘hard tennis courts, so much better than our grass ones’.  She also told us how the servants were so excited to have a smaller house to clean! How times have changed! Hollybush Park and lake   The Hall and contents were put up for sale after the family left in 1952 but the house failed to sell so they rented it out to a Dr Gillies and his wife, Maimi. He was a highly regarded consultant at the local Burton General Hospital and it seems they lived in some style at th...

The War Years and Beyond #38

...gh called Hollybush Park.  I remember Mrs Meynell telling us a funny story about how her husband had come home one day and told her he had bought another house.  He was raving on about the ‘hard tennis courts, so much better than our grass ones’.  When they eventually moved into their new home, Mrs Meynell also told us how the servants were so excited to have a smaller house to clean!  How times have changed!  The Hall and contents were put up for sale after the family left in 1952 but the house failed to sell so they rented it out to a Dr Gillies and his wife, Maimi.  He was a highly regarded consultant at the local Burton General Hospital and it see...

The War Years and Beyond #40

...gh called Hollybush Park. I remember Mrs Meynell telling us a funny story about how her husband had come home one day and told her he had bought another house. He was very excited about the ‘hard tennis courts, so much better than our grass ones’.  The servants were also excited to have a smaller house to clean! How times have changed!  The header photo is a last picture of the five Meynell children before they moved - what a charming sight with the boys on their ponies protecting their little sisters in the middle! The Hall and contents were put up for sale after the family left in 1952 but the house failed to sell so they rented it out to a Dr Gillies a...

The War Years and Beyond #37

...gh called Hollybush Park. I remember Mrs Meynell telling us a funny story about how her husband had come home one day and told her he had bought another house. He was raving on about the ‘hard tennis courts, so much better than our grass ones’. When they eventually moved into their new home, Mrs Meynell also told us how the servants were so excited to have a smaller house to clean! How times have changed! The header photo shows a charming picture of the children of Colonel and Mrs Meynell in the late forties, the boys on their ponies and the two girls on a trike with the baby in the pram.  They were the last Meynell family to live at the Hall. The Hall an...

The Origins of the Stately Home #39

...Why are stately homes so called? Stately home actually means 'a large impressive old house with interesting history and usually visited by the public.' Well, I suppose they do look very 'stately' for a start but these houses were also a status symbol for the great families of England, who competed with each other to provide hospitality for the royal household who would travel around England meeting their subjects. Stately homes were huge mansions which were always beautiful and the epitome of perfect architecture, often designed by famous architects of the day. The gardens too would be perfectly landscaped to show balance, variety, sequence and colour. One of t...

Race Day Parties #27

...RACE DAY PARTIES:      My dad used to be a racing driver so he was often invited to parties and open days at various racing circuits.  He naturally knew lots of racing people and on this particular occasion he was invited to an Open Day at Donington Park.   Tom Wheatcroft, a local entrepreneur, had bought Donington Park in the 1970s as he owned the largest collection of Grand Prix cars in the world at that time.  In 1973 he opened a museum there to house them all and called it the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition.  Donington became the favoured home of the British round of the MotoGP motorcycling championships but he was really hoping to bring Formula 1...