Story Search Results

Moving house to a mansion #1

...’d play tennis in the Ballroom – I’m not sure if my parents knew we were doing this but it was good fun while the room was empty – it was incredible that we didn’t do any damage to the large ornamental pieces hanging from the ceiling!! And so the summer rolled into Autumn and we were about to start our new schools.  I was moving up to secondary school having passed my 11 Plus and was going to the local grammar school in nearby Uttoxeter – well I say nearby but it was actually about 10 miles away and I had to catch a double decker bus to get there.  At least the school bus hadn’t been cancelled!  My brother went to the local primary school down...

Eat, Drink and be Merry! #10

...old grass tennis courts (still with two foot high grass on them!) they made a playground, which was fun for us too.  My dad continued to buy and sell antiques and was often at local auctions and occasionally made trips to London for sales at Sothebys or Christies auction houses.  I once went with him and we spotted the actor Rodney Bewes from The Likely Lads TV programme – he pulled up next to Sothebys in his Rolls Royce! My dad’s antique collection continued to grow as he couldn’t resist a bargain and he would often go to a sale to get one thing and come back with something else – much to my mother’s annoyance!  Once he was meant to get more Bentw...

The War Years and Beyond #37

...e ‘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 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...

Ventures New #9

...old grass tennis courts (still with two foot high grass on them!) they made a playground, which was fun for us too. My dad continued to buy and sell antiques and was often at local auctions and occasionally made trips to London for sales at Sothebys or Christies auction houses. I once went with him and we spotted the actor Rodney Bewes from The Likely Lads TV programme – he pulled up next to Sothebys in his Rolls Royce! My dad’s antique collection continued to grow as he couldn’t resist a bargain and he would often go to a sale to get one thing and come back with something else – much to my mother’s annoyance! Once he was meant to get more Bentwood ch...

Rags to Riches #14

...d a table tennis table in a spare bedroom and a pinball machine in another room that my dad had bought at a sale. This all seemed completely normal to us although in hindsight it was obviously anything but normal. I think that my dad felt that he had ‘made it’ once we were at the Hall. It was the classic rags to riches story and he had worked hard all his life to make it happen, always being careful with his money and investing it in things he could sell in the future. However, my mum found living at the Hall difficult with a young family and never really wanted to move to such a remote place when we had previously enjoyed a small village community where sh...

The War Years and Beyond #40

...e ‘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 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 the Hall. They employed six staff including a Housekee...