I have been reminded by Crash about areas around Stonelands and St. Hill that bring back pleasant memories. Some of these memories are around seeking sanctuary and peace from the madness of the daily routines and ethics. These places gave my sister, brothers and I a real safe haven for a while. I thought I would try to recount these memories and see if they trigger any pleasant memories for others too.
At Stonelands there were all sorts of wonderful nooks and crannies to explore as a child. You could go up and climb through the attic windows where the Quirinos lived (and later the Edwards' and Morgans), onto the slate roof. This roof reminded me very much of the Brothers Grimm when they described the roofs across Germany in their fairy tales. There was a slight sense of danger, but also fun.
There were the basements that were dank and damp. One of these was later to become the study room for the RPF so had been given a lick of white emulsion. Leading down into the basement were these stone steps, worn away with age in a spiral. Prior to the RPF taking it over, we used to play in there as kids and one nanny (who will remain nameless) used to play guitar, and sing us songs whilst she smoked dope. She was a bit of a hippy anyway, and this lent itself to the whole positive ambience of the moment.
Under the stairs was a tiny room (one couldn't really describe it as a cupboard) where a phone was housed. I remember one dark, windy and very stormy night seeking santuary in there as the thunderstorm raged outside, with lightning casting a blaze of light across the red tiles on the floor. During a storm Stonelands could either be an incredibly frightening place to a child, or a place of refuge depending on where you happened to be. There were no real carpets to speak of, and the old floors creaked and groaned in all sorts of ways. The emptiness of the corridors meant that the wind could blow up and down them causing huge draughts. It wasn't for no reason that we huddled under sleeping bags or blankets when all sitting together in the TV room on a Saturday night watching The Old Grey Whistle Test!
In the grounds of Stonelands, we were intrigued, and slightly nervous about approaching the grave of someone from days of yore who had been buried near the Nursery School building at the back of the house. We never did know whose grave it was, but I would never be seen dead walking past this grave at night (pardon the pun)!
Do people remember the really longgggg driveway to the house. I used to love walking up this drive on my own whenever I needed to get away, and I used to sometimes walk up it and think "if I kept on walking, what would happen to me"?
Crash reminded me of the old swimming pool at the back of the house. If anyone has ever seen the footage of Edward the VIII and Wallis Simpson swimming at Windsor, then one could imagine that at some point this pool would have been just like it. We did actually swim in it... I recall swimming in this pool with Mark and Tom Pope and Vincent and Chris Barnes. The water wasn't exactly clear, and neither was there any adult present to supervise us. Our lives were in the lap of the Gods! However, we had a wonderful time. The pool was surrounded by a brick wall on all sides, and some old rooms off to the corners that would once have been changing rooms. It was pretty cool if you stood there amongs the weeds of the paving stones, and used your imagination to harp back to what it might have been once.
Not far from this pool was an old greenhouse with little or no glass left in it, and what glass there was was covered in green algae. However, there was the most wonderful, very old fig tree in there, and it used to bear the most glorious fruit. This was truly manna from heaven when you compared it to the meagre beans and rice we were subjected to having to eat on a daily basis. Pure nectar.
If anyone else has any memories of the house, I would love to hear them. I have many more about The Hill too... but this is enough for now. Thank you for reading....
At Stonelands there were all sorts of wonderful nooks and crannies to explore as a child. You could go up and climb through the attic windows where the Quirinos lived (and later the Edwards' and Morgans), onto the slate roof. This roof reminded me very much of the Brothers Grimm when they described the roofs across Germany in their fairy tales. There was a slight sense of danger, but also fun.
There were the basements that were dank and damp. One of these was later to become the study room for the RPF so had been given a lick of white emulsion. Leading down into the basement were these stone steps, worn away with age in a spiral. Prior to the RPF taking it over, we used to play in there as kids and one nanny (who will remain nameless) used to play guitar, and sing us songs whilst she smoked dope. She was a bit of a hippy anyway, and this lent itself to the whole positive ambience of the moment.
Under the stairs was a tiny room (one couldn't really describe it as a cupboard) where a phone was housed. I remember one dark, windy and very stormy night seeking santuary in there as the thunderstorm raged outside, with lightning casting a blaze of light across the red tiles on the floor. During a storm Stonelands could either be an incredibly frightening place to a child, or a place of refuge depending on where you happened to be. There were no real carpets to speak of, and the old floors creaked and groaned in all sorts of ways. The emptiness of the corridors meant that the wind could blow up and down them causing huge draughts. It wasn't for no reason that we huddled under sleeping bags or blankets when all sitting together in the TV room on a Saturday night watching The Old Grey Whistle Test!
In the grounds of Stonelands, we were intrigued, and slightly nervous about approaching the grave of someone from days of yore who had been buried near the Nursery School building at the back of the house. We never did know whose grave it was, but I would never be seen dead walking past this grave at night (pardon the pun)!
Do people remember the really longgggg driveway to the house. I used to love walking up this drive on my own whenever I needed to get away, and I used to sometimes walk up it and think "if I kept on walking, what would happen to me"?
Crash reminded me of the old swimming pool at the back of the house. If anyone has ever seen the footage of Edward the VIII and Wallis Simpson swimming at Windsor, then one could imagine that at some point this pool would have been just like it. We did actually swim in it... I recall swimming in this pool with Mark and Tom Pope and Vincent and Chris Barnes. The water wasn't exactly clear, and neither was there any adult present to supervise us. Our lives were in the lap of the Gods! However, we had a wonderful time. The pool was surrounded by a brick wall on all sides, and some old rooms off to the corners that would once have been changing rooms. It was pretty cool if you stood there amongs the weeds of the paving stones, and used your imagination to harp back to what it might have been once.
Not far from this pool was an old greenhouse with little or no glass left in it, and what glass there was was covered in green algae. However, there was the most wonderful, very old fig tree in there, and it used to bear the most glorious fruit. This was truly manna from heaven when you compared it to the meagre beans and rice we were subjected to having to eat on a daily basis. Pure nectar.
If anyone else has any memories of the house, I would love to hear them. I have many more about The Hill too... but this is enough for now. Thank you for reading....
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