Downgate Hall News Today

PART 4 OF OUR WARTIME MINI SERIAL Matters come to a head as Alice and Matthew face the spy, but what does their future hold? As the spy moved towards the well, Alice took up a rock and threw it into the undergrowth to attract attention, before running through the thicket of trees back towards the house. Her heart hammered in her chest as she waited for a gunshot to ring out, bracing herself for the impact. But the bullet did not come. Instead, she heard the heavy footfall of a man behind her. E...

PART 2 OF OUR WW2 MINI SERIAL Alice is drawn to the captain, but she finds herself in danger – and what do they want with her journal? It came to me today as I held young Freddie while he cried. The look I recognised in his eyes – in so many of their eyes – but had struggled to place. I recalled, back on my parents’ farm, helping Ma in the kitchen, chopping vegetables when a blackbird flew straight at the window. It hit the glass with such a bang that I cried out in alarm, dropping the...

PART 1 OF OUR WW2 MINI SERIAL As efficient Matron in the hospital wing of the hall, Alice took charming Captain Stamford in her stride… The first bus arrived at ten-thirty. Ten soldiers were on board. Edward Jackson called them the “walking wounded”. They won’t be with us long. We are to patch them up and get them ready to go back. This afternoon, the ambulances started to arrive. First, they came in ones and twos. Then we had a line queuing along the drive, all waiting to offload their...