Story Search Results

The War years and beyond

...y say, is history!  The header photo is, I think, a very charming picture of the last Meynell children to live at the Hall.   The three older boys, Nicholas, David and Freddie are on their ponies and their younger sisters, Alexandra and Elizabeth, are shown on a trike with the baby in a pram, taken just two years before they left. This has now brought my blog full circle and if you would like to read it from the beginning (with new added stories since remembered) please Click Here! I will also be writing a few more history blogs so keep a look out for those if that’s what grabs your interest! ...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

...h all its history and tragedies in the summer of 1970. My family consisted of my mum and dad and two younger brothers and the five of us were about to take on a stately home in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed to me!  It was actually in the middle of Staffordshire but in an incredibly small village, more like a hamlet, with a church, a school, a few cottages and a village pub.  The local bus service had just come to an end the month we moved in so there was no public transport either or a village shop!  Of course, to us three kids it seemed really exciting moving to this huge house with lots of rooms to play hide and seek in.  The gardens were vast an...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #15

...HOAR CROSS HALL - A BIT OF history :         Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers.  The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross.  This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross).  In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000.  Eventually it was sold to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county. This br...

Moving into the Manor #2

...MOVING INTO THE MANOR:          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 Donington Park.  During the...

Moving house to a mansion #1

...MOVING HOUSE TO A 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 Donington Park.  During the...

The War Years and Beyond #37

...y say, is history! This has now brought my blog full circle and if you would like to read it from the beginning (with new added stories, since remembered) please click here and feel free to share with your friends. I will also be writing a few more history blogs so keep a look out for those if that’s what grabs your interest plus I will be putting up more photos spanning the many decades at the Hall from the Victorian era right through to our time there in the seventies! Enjoy!    ...