Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire - Stapleford Park - postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
• Publisher:  Stapleford Park Hotel, Spa, Golf and Sporting Estate
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one.

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Stapleford Park is a Grade I listed country house in Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, now used as a hotel. It was originally the seat of the Sherard family, later the Earls of Harborough and from 1894, of Baron Gretton.

American fast-food restaurateur and hotelier Bob Payton bought it in 1988 to convert into an hotel. He restored the buildings, according to his obituary ""hiring Wedgwood, Turnbull & Asser, Crabtree & Evelyn to decorate its rooms"".^[1]

St Mary Magdalene's Church in the park was built in 1783 by George Richardson for the 4th Earl of Harborough.^[2][3]

The 6th Earl objected to a proposal in 1844 to run the Syston and Peterborough Railway through Stapleford Park along the course of the River Wreake. Its construction would threaten the struggling Oakham Canal of which he was a shareholder. The dispute led to a series of brawls and confrontations between the Earl's men and canal employees on one side and the railway's surveyors on the other with up to 300 involved in each skirmish. The dispute has been called the ""Battle of Saxby"".^[4]

Eventually the railway ran around Stapleford Park in what is known as ""Lord Harborough's Curve"". The tight bend was a nuisance for the express trains and, later when the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway built a branch to Saxby, the opportunity was taken to reduce the curve with Saxby station being moved in the process. Lord Harborough had died in the meantime and the estate had been bought by Lord Gretton who was more sympathetic to the railway. Ironically, in 1958, the Stapleford Miniature Railway was constructed by the second Lord Gretton in the parkland, as part of a public attraction which also included a Lion reserve. The park and house became a major tourist attraction through the 1960s and 70's. The park though closed in 1982 and was sold to become an exclusive country hotel. The railway and parkland however is still owned by the Gretton family and opens for charity in the summer a few times a year

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=leicestershire

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted