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Suits you Sir! #22

When we moved to <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years. It was such a shame as it had been designed by Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century. The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed. This chap really loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon! Alas, after removing all the pipes and laying them out in the basement, he...

Whodunit in the Library #24

When we first moved to <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, growing up in a stately home seemed an idyllic way to live – and lots of fun if you’re a child. This rambling old house full of empty rooms and secret doors, wild gardens and woods to explore, was in some ways a dream come true for our family, certainly for my dad. But as we turned from children to teenagers the isolation and lack of public transport was frustrating. Coupled with this was my parents fighting and subsequent split, living at each end of the house and battling for the house and business through their solicitors. The effect this had on me, as the eldest child who perhaps saw more of it than my brothers, w...

Moving Day Arrives #2

My parents took vacant possession of <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> 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 he ran his own team, Shardlow Motor R...

DIY Stately Home #4

We moved into <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> during the summer holidays and my parents quickly realised they had a lot of work on their hands to make the place habitable as well as to earn some money from it. As previously mentioned, there was an East Wing and a West Wing to the house. My dad decided to convert the first floor rooms of each wing into three separate apartments; he had done this at our previous house. This would generate income from rents until we got the main house open to the public. It wasn’t a big job to convert the rooms as the East Wing had four main rooms and two bathrooms already there, which would have been used as guest bedrooms in Victorian times. H...

Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

Most stately homes have the obligatory hunting, shooting and fishing and <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan> was no exception during the Meynell family’s time there. We didn't participate in any of these but, however, the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt used to meet locally to do a spot of fox hunting. They would all gather at different venues around the area and enjoy a drink before setting off. One of their usual places was the Meynell Ingram Arms Public House at the bottom of the village. In February 1972 they had their ‘meet’ at the <span class='highlight'>hallspan>. We, as the host family, got all dressed up to meet and greet them and local helpers served drinks, usually sherry. I had no interest in h...

Motor Racing Days #9

Although my blogs are about living at <span class='highlight'>hoarspan> <span class='highlight'>crossspan> <span class='highlight'>hallspan>, I would just like to give a bit of background about my dad’s racing career in the years leading up to moving to the <span class='highlight'>hallspan> as this will set the scene for later instalments of my story. As mentioned in my first blog my dad used to be a racing driver but he actually started off racing motor cycles in the 1930s. Because of this he became a despatch rider during the Second World War and spent a lot of time in North Africa. After the war he started racing motor bikes at nearby Donington Park and he raced there up to the beginning of the 1950s. After that he moved onto cars and drove a Cooper 500cc (which is the...