Buntingsdale Hall And Farcroft.
My first posting as as an L.A.C. Chef in the R.A.F. was to 22 Group H.Q. at the hall in May 1953. I was eighteen at the time and was to become chef to A.V.M. Merton in his residence, Farcroft in Market Drayton.
I reported to the guardroom and was then whisked up to meet the A.V.M. by his P.A. F/Lt. Jan Badini who I was told was a Polish Count. I think he must have been as he later told us about hunting wolves on his estate in Poland before the war.
I was later to live in Farcroft cooking for the A.V.M., his wife known to us as 'Agie' (behind her back), Cpl Davis, Pete Redcar and another batman called O'Gorman.
It was a quiet life for about a year before I was moved on to R.A.F. Bridgnorth.
The main thing I remember there was Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, coming to dinner and staying the night. I was given an audience the following morning with the Duchess still in bed, nightcap and all, while I was congratulated on the dinner and told 'I had light fingers', she was referring to pastry making but we laughed at her wording afterwards.
I went back to Market Drayton during 2005 on a 'down memory lane' visit. I found the old hall still there with the mist still rising off its still waters but the Farcroft had been pulled down and replaced by a housing estate.
jamiesmith1935@hotmail.co.uk
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