Brownsover Hall
Brownsover Hall is in the village of Brownsover in Warwickshire
Brownsover is mentioned in the novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), its creator Thomas Hughes (1822-1896) is recorded as writing the famous book in Deal in Kent in a house not far from the Time Ball Tower.
The village is near to Rugby home of the famous school
William Webb Ellis (1806-1872) the inventor of the game of Rugby Football is alleged to have caught a football in his arms during a match in 1823 and run with it thus giving birth to the game of rugby
His statue can still be seen at the school
There is also a statue of Thomas Hughes at Rugby School
The house dates from the mid-nineteenth century and replaced an earlier manor house. It was designed in the Victorian Gothic style by the architect George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) who also designed the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station and the Albert Memorial
Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996) who designed the turbojet engine purchased the Brownsover estate and lived there between 1936 and 1942
Like a number of hotels Browsover Hall is said to be haunted. A number of people have reported supernatural experiences
What do you think of it?
Good it’s good
Did you write it for their website or a pamphlet?
It is for their website
You have a talent
It is just a matter of research
Pretty was looking out of the window at the park below
Do you know that someone was murdered right in front of this house in 1974?
No
It appears that a guy was sleeping with other guy’s wife so the husband waited for him in the park and hit him with a baseball bat
He died in hospital
It sound more like manslaughter to me
No it was premeditated and he went down for life
Is he out?
Probably
What have you been doing since I last saw you
This and that
Nothing more specific
I watched Taxi Driver
The movie?
Yes
I thought you had seen it
No I was going to see it at the NFT in the seventies but somebody fell under my tube and I did not make it in time
So you have waited forty years to see the movie
Yes
You do not rush to do things so you?
I suppose not
Have you anymore secrets you wish to share with me Harold
A few I have started reading The Godfather on numerous occasions but have never finished it
I read it when I was in Japan
Did you like it?
Yes I thought it was very good
Thoresby Hall
Thoresby Hall is a country house in Budby Nottinghamshire
The area is famous as it was part of the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame
The current house dates from the nineteenth century but there have been houses on or near to the site since around 1670
It was constructed between 1864 and 1871 its architect being the famous Anthony Salvin whose work can still be viewed at Norwich Castle as well as Newark Castle and Caernarvon Castle to name just two examples
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu famous for her letters from the Orient as well as her work in pioneering in the introduction of a radical smallpox inoculation from Turkey was born in the original Thoresby Hall in 1689
The gardens of Thoresby Hall were set into the parklands by the famed landscape architect Lancelot (Capability) Brown
At the nearby church of St Mary Edwinstowe legend notes that Robin Hood and Maid exchanged vows Marion
You have been quite a busy girl Pretty
Do you use your nickname when writing?
No I use my birth name
Jane
Yes
How did you cope with the heat wave last week?
I loved it
It must have been hell here in London
You just adjust your pace of life
This flat is cool
Yes that is why I live here cool in the summer and cosy in the winter
What did you get up to?
I walked in the countryside
I should have guessed
Anywhere special?
Not really although I ran into the happy people at Avebury
Happy people?
Hippies new age people
What were they doing there?
It was June 21st
The Summer Solstice
What did you think of them?
I really did not know what to make of them
They seemed to be very happy but was it just a façade
They were probably spaced out
Maybe
But I wanted to ask them whether they seeing things that I could not see
Did you
No
Pretty was sitting on her pastel sofa
She was looking slightly drawn and there were dark rings around her eyes
You should slow down Pretty as you are beginning to look exhausted
Thanks Harold you certainly know how to make a girl fell good
Look I am your friend and friends give advice
You are right I have travelled and travelled and travelled I am tired
I am going to see my aunt in Wales in a fortnight
I can work from there
I agree I need to slow down
Promise
Yes
When will I see you again?
August I will be in London in August
The tickets for you and Solange are on the table
Thank you
Have you seen the exhibition?
No
What was the name of the artist again?
Fahrelnissa Zeid
Is she still alive?
No she died in 1991
But you will like her work it will blow you away
I will check her out on my laptop
Don’t
Just go to the Tate Modern with Solange and let the paintings tell their own story
Experience it in the raw you mean
Yes
Ok
Where are you off to now?
Dover again and then I have a reading in Portsmouth
You are a busy girl
Not as busy as you
Driving?
No I am travelling by train
I like train travel in the summer
You should try the Japanese Bullet Trains they are fantastic
I adored travelling on them
With Basho
With Basho
I am off now as I only have fifteen for the train
See you in August Harold
Be safe Pretty and slow down
Promise
Promise