Story Search Results

Celebrating VE day #94

...would one day own Hugo's house!  After North Africa he moved to Italy and spent a lot of time in Bari and Naples eventually moving up towards Belgium.  He kept diaries of his time during the war and the one I have is from 1944-45 when the war ended and he was finally demobbed in January 1946 and safely home.  It makes fascinating reading of another time when the future was so uncertain, not unlike today, with  the war in Ukraine and other places around the world.  Most days my dad is writing about how much he misses home and his sweetheart, Winnie, who he constantly writes to.  He was studying art and wonders when, or if, he will continue with it after the...

LET THE BANQUET COMMENCE! #11

...Hall one day in early September.  There were lots of nibbles and quite a lot of champagne flowing and the newspapers and radio stations turned up to take lots of photos of us all in various poses and record interviews with the cast.  It was a lovely, warm Autumn day and many of the photos were taken outdoors (see header picture).  I remember it turning out to be quite a party, even though it started at 9.30 in the morning; as the day wore on and the organist started playing a few of the songs we would be doing at the banquets, everyone started dancing and singing along – it was 4pm by the time it finished! Banquets Press Launch 1973 - Here are the ser...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story

...in those days (her sister, Beatrice, was also a nursery maid with the Earl and Countess of Lichfield), and she was engaged on a salary of £18 per annum.  Her mother made her uniform, which comprised of a morning dress and an afternoon dress, and Lady Dorothy Meynell supplied her cap.  She was the personal maid to Lady Dorothy’s eldest daughter, Dorothy, who was just four years younger than Inez.  She also looked after Dorothy’s younger sister, Rachael. The schoolroom at this time was situated just off the main Entrance Hall, and immediately below the nursery.  Inez worked under the supervision of Mrs Catt, the housekeeper, Miss Rhodes, the lady’s ma...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #13

...It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets. All the cast would come round to the house each week for rehearsals and my mum and one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts and blouses for the wenches. My mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a King, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist and various wenches and serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before and so we all gathered at the Hall one day in ea...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #12

...Hall one day in early September.  There were lots of nibbles and quite a lot of champagne flowing and the newspapers and radio stations turned up to take lots of photos of us all in various poses and record interviews with the cast.  It was a lovely, warm Autumn day and many of the photos were taken outdoors.  I remember it turning out to be quite a party, even though it started at 9.30 in the morning; as the day wore on the organist started playing a few of the songs we would be doing at the banquets, and everyone started dancing and singing along – it was 4pm by the time we finished! And so arrived the day of the first banquet.  All the furniture and c...

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...