by Ron Muggeridge

Molly nee Mackay, was born into a respected Wiltshire family of Scottish descent, owners of the renowned Trowbridge cloth mill, Palmer and Mackay. She met her husband-to-be, Harry Gregson through their mutual love of horses. From a child, Molly had been happiest when riding, either alone or with the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt. The book also chronicles out outstanding association with the Crawley and Horsham Hunt, of which she was a member, and Master, over many years.

Price: £8.95
ISBN: 978-0-9512619-4-1

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About this book..

This is the story of Molly and the Gregson family’s years (1908-1984)at Ends Place, Warnham, in West Sussex – a large country estate, at one time self-sufficient. The Gregsons were not just Sussex landowners and popular employers. They had nationwide and worldwide connections with the racing world, and Charles was for years the leading racehorse owner in Calcutta.

Molly’s sons, Geoffrey and Charles, both saw Active Service in the Middle East. During the war, Geoffrey, shows how Molly triumphed over the difficulties of running Ends Place, virtually single-handed, with men and horses gone to war, and food shortages. After Charles died, a war hero, life at Ends Place would never be the same again.

Apart from social-history importance as a rural family memoir, this carefully-researched book considers the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the whole of rural England, and former members of staff have provided first-hand experience of ‘life below stairs’.

The book is now enjoying renewed interest, in the light of the controversy raging about hunting.

About the Illustration..

The front cover, a sepia photograph, shows Molly and others getting ready for the Hunt, including the dogs, and is characteristic of some of the other numerous old black and white photographs that enliven the text.