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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs

...were few balls and dances and hardly any hunting and shooting.  I think the First World War had a lot to do with staff cutbacks as society was changing between the wars and Lady Dorothy’s two daughters weren’t really interested in high living and parties – they wanted to do something useful with their lives.  They had spent much of their childhood in the schoolroom at the Hall.  The sons of the family were away at boarding school but the girls had a governess and nursery maid to look after them. Dorothy had her own personal maid at the age of 11.   The schoolroom was situated just off the main entrance hall on the ground floor and the maid would brin...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

...were few balls and dances and hardly any hunting and shooting. I think the First World War had a lot to do with staff cutbacks as society was changing between the wars and Lady Dorothy’s two daughters weren’t really interested in high living and parties – they wanted to do something useful with their lives. They had spent much of their childhood in the schoolroom at the Hall. The sons of the family were away at boarding school but the girls had a governess and nursery maid to look after them. Dorothy had her own personal maid at the age of 11. The schoolroom was situated just off the main entrance hall on the ground floor and the maid would bring breakfas...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #18

...were few balls and dances and hardly any hunting and shooting. I think the First World War had a lot to do with staff cutbacks as society was changing between the wars and Lady Dorothy’s two daughters weren’t really interested in high living and parties – they wanted to do something useful with their lives. They had spent much of their childhood in the schoolroom at the Hall. The sons of the family were away at boarding school but the girls had a governess and nursery maid to look after them. Dorothy had her own personal maid at the age of 11. The schoolroom was situated just off the main entrance hall on the ground floor and the maid would bring breakfas...

Christmas High Jinks! #29

...CHRISTMAS HIGH JINKS:       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...

A New Year Calamity! #30

...A NEW YEAR CALAMITY!       The New Year’s Eve balls at the Hall were usually the highlight of the year. After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party. In those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal. At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt and sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes. Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk...

Ventures New! #10

...ne or two balls that we had at the Hall, but I was still quite young and nothing came of it. The Bamford’s banquet was hugely successful and they came back a few more times – the Americans of course thoroughly enjoyed being in a stately home and asked my dad if he was the butler because he was wearing a dinner jacket with black tie! He didn’t take too kindly to that but they were more impressed when they found out that he was the owner! And they tipped well too. I was allowed to come to these events and loved telling a few stories about ‘the servants’ we had and the haunted attic! The Americans would hang on my every word! The JCB tankards   Du...