Story Search Results

A Bit Of Background #1

...d built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt.  It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte.  The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871.   Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident.  Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a horse riding accident and had been bed-ridden ever since – he died in May of that year.  They had no children and Emily built The Church of the Holy...

Party On! #18

...of ghost hunting by candlelight, so we dared them to try it!   Well, they certainly found them!  After about 20 minutes they were all running back down the spiral staircase with stories of weird noises “like furniture dragging on the floor”.  They went into one room to see what was going on as “it sounded like a crowd of people talking in there” but all the rooms were empty.    As they walked back down the attic corridor they felt people brushing past them and heard the swish of long skirts.  This was when they realised there was no power up there and as the candles blew out they panicked and ran around petrified and half scared to death, eventu...

What the butler saw!

...othes and hunting gear.  In the absence of a footman, he would also answer the door – sounds like he was a very busy man!  Let’s hope that someone didn’t come calling at lunchtime while he was helping his master get changed into yet another outfit! Another thing large houses always had was a letter bag  - used for receiving and dispatching letters – the butler would have the key to this bag and be responsible for distributing the mail.  Can you imagine the excitement amongst the staff as the postman cycled up the long drive bringing the mail – and then having to wait until later on to see if there was a letter for them!  Most servants wouldn’t...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

...d built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt.  It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte.  The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871.   Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident.  Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a horse riding accident and had been bed-ridden ever since – he died in May of that year.  They had no children and Emily built The Church of the Holy A...

Ghouls Galore! #19

...of ghost hunting by candlelight, so we dared them to try it!   Well, they certainly found them!  They all sat around in a circle on the bare wooden floors and joined hands; the candle was placed in the middle of the circle creating an eerie glow and making shadows dance in the corners.   The more experienced people did a bit of chanting and then they all waited to see what happened.   We carried on partying downstairs turning the music up loud – to be honest, I didn’t really want to know what was going on in the attic, that whole part of the building terrified me! After about 30 minutes we ventured up the spiral staircase a little way to see what wa...

What the Butler saw!

...othes and hunting gear.  In the absence of a footman, he would also answer the door – sounds like he was a very busy man!  Let’s hope that someone didn’t come calling at lunchtime while he was helping his master get changed into yet another outfit! Another thing large houses always had was a letter bag  - used for receiving and dispatching letters – the butler would have the key to this bag and be responsible for distributing the mail.  Can you imagine the excitement amongst the staff as the postman cycled up the long drive bringing the mail – and then having to wait until later on to see if there was a letter for them!  Most servants wouldn’t...