Generally speaking, the inside servants worked in the morning and the evening and often had the afternoon off and so after 2 p.m. I would go on my cycle with or without Edward to a village church and get back by about 4.30 p.m. or I would go for a swim or a walk. I visited many churches around the area. Once a week I had the afternoon and evening off; from about 2-11 p.m. I also had a half day off on every other Sunday and on the Sunday when we were on duty; we were allowed to go to church at Winchcombe in the morning. When I had my half day off; I went to see relations around the area. On the first occasion I walked from Sudeley to Teddington about 8 to 9 miles. My aunty Annie was appalled to hear that I had walked so far. She got me some food and told me to go back before 11 pm. She told my mother of it and my mother asked my brother Roland to let me have his old bicycle. Roland was then second footman at a house in Sussex.


Mr Pearce, the Head Gardener, also enjoyed cycling and I often used to cycle with him to Stratford on Avon, Hereford, Evesham, Worcester, Gloucester etc. Later on in the centre of Winchcombe I was knocked down from Roland’s old bicycle by a car and had to buy a new green Raleigh cycle for £8 12s 6d so that took most of my £12 per annum pay. Living at Sudeley I became very frugal and looked at every penny like old Janet. . In August I got the right to have a whole day off after breakfast.

There were events that we were wanted for such as for the christening of Master Mark in the Sudeley Church which was held on a Saturday afternoon, in which case we did not get the time off. All the important people in the area seemed to be there and Mr Pearce, the chauffeur was kept busy helping to drive the cars around. He also had to ensure that no cars were parked on the lawn which would have infuriated the other Mr Pearce, the head gardener. Edward was on leave and so Mr Buckingham was in and out of the pantry opening bottles of drink and making a sort of ‘cup’ that seemed to go down very well with the party. The cook was busy preparing bits and pieces of food for the party while I spent the whole time washing up. Later though a small boy from the nursery turned up and asked me if my name was John and if I could play with him. And so went off to the maze to play ‘hide and seek’.

Tea would be at 5 p.m. and Edward the footman or Mr Buckingham would leave a large silver tray in the kitchen. On it would be two beautiful cups and saucers, a silver pot for sugar, a silver teapot and a silver kettle of hot water under which there is a container with mentholated spirits in it. The kitchen maid or cook would place the food – a few slices of white bread, cake, hot crumpets etc and take it through ready for Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst to make the tea. Most of the people I worked for preferred China tea to Indian.

Edward and I got the tray for the servants and we enjoyed tea in the pantry. Either I, Edward or Mr. Buckingham would get the tray for the lady’s maid, the cook and Mr Buckingham, which they would eat in the small room between the pantry and the servant’s hall. The assistant nanny would get the food for the nursery staff; she gave me the ‘brush off’ early in 1931. The scullery maid and the kitchen maid eat their tea in the kitchen. After tea we would wash up yet again.

If there were any coal or wood fires then either Mr Buckingham or Edward would top them up, making sure that no wood or coal had got on to the hearth or worse still damaged the carpet. Edward would then lay the dinner which was taken at 8 pm prompt. Mr Buckingham would take the sherries into the lounge. At 7 p.m. the Major and Mrs. Dent-Brocklehurst would go upstairs for their bath. The odd-job man who lived in the north lodge would have already started the pump that provided them with the hot water from the boiler. If the bath water was not hot enough for the bath then the odd-job man was in for the carpet the following day!


At about 6 p.m. I would lay the table in the servant’s hall and listen to the conversations going on there. The second housemaid told me that during the war she had become a bus conductor but lost her job when the men came back from the war. She said her fiancé was killed in the war and she hoped that she would not end up in the workhouse. She also said that she was envious of my youth.

At 6.50 p.m. we had supper. At 7.30 p.m. Janet would tell the housemaids to put out the pyjamas and pull the curtains. At about 9 p.m. they would go to their rooms as they had to get up at 6 a.m. prompt. The female staff wore blue uniforms. I often noticed a difference in the girls when they were off duty and had on their own dresses. All the female staff, except the lady’s maid, had to wear a hat, which was very important in kitchen work.

At 7.30 p.m. the kitchen staff would go back to the kitchen to finish their jobs. Things would always be a little tense at this time before dinner. Before Mr Buckingham would ring the gong I would put the soup into the lift and pull it up. Edward would serve out the soup while the butler would serve the drinks, first to Mrs. Dent-Brocklehurst and then to the Major and then go out. After about 5 to 10 minutes Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst would ring the bell. Edward would manoeuvre the lift and place the fish and sauce in it. Dinners normally consisted of soup, fish, meat, sweet, fruit and coffee and the Major and Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst would always dress for dinner. However, if there were guests for dinner the cook and kitchen maid had to sometimes prepare a six or seven course meal and there would be a lot of ‘Tory chat’ amongst the rich.

For example Mrs. Dent-Brocklehurst told the story about how, when in 1931, they had done some shopping for crockery and saucepans in Selfridges, Mr. Selfridge was going round his store first thing in the morning and found a young man not working. He gave him a piece of paper and told him to give it to the cashier. The cashier read it and gave the young man some money, the young man asked why he was getting the money and the cashier replied that he was being sacked for not doing any work. The young man then explained that he did not work at Selfridges. I of course ended up having to wash up all the new crockery.

It seemed that Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst was particularly keen on having soufflés when she had guests for dinner. At least two or three cooks had to go or left before they were sacked because they could not make soufflés well enough. As I waited near the lift to quickly take the food up, I felt sorry for the cook who often snapped at the staff because of her concern over the soufflé.

The cook, when I started, was British but had spent a few years in the USA during the time of President Coolidge and Hoover. At meal times she used to speak of the prosperity there. When she had worked in New York City as a cook she had been able to buy and sell shares. She told us that she put down ten percent to start an account and then sell in a day or two and get a profit. She also talked about the Wall Street crash which was when she went back to Britain. I understand that at some point she told Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst “to go and stuff herself” and left. Another cook tried very hard to please Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst. In an attempt to get the soufflé just right she carried the soufflé in her left hand and in her right hand she had a hot hand shovel that she held under the soufflé as she walked around the stairs to the first floor. Obviously this was very dangerous to herself. When she came down she sat down by the kitchen door exhausted with the effort. Mr Buckingham went down to see if she was all right and she asked if Mrs. Dent-Brocklehurst was pleased. Mr Buckingham replied that “she seemed to be alright and the dinner party (of about eight) was alright so far. This cook also did not last long, but in due course a new cook came and she stayed for a long time.

By about 10 p.m. we and the kitchen staff would have washed everything up and put it away. Some of the crockery was quite lovely and costly so we had to be very careful. Mr Buckingham would go for any orders for tomorrow and when the Major and Mrs Dent-Brocklehurst said goodnight to Mr Buckingham then we knew we could lock the safe and go to bed.