AFTER spending 31 years keeping Ormesby Hall in pristine condition, its senior housekeeper is decided to hang up her apron.

Brenda Baggott was the last remaining member of staff who worked for the Pennyman family before the hall was handed over to the National Trust.

Her role over the years has been to look after the contents of the estate in all seasons.

In 1974, she started work for Ruth Pennyman, the widow of Colonel James who donated the hall to the trust in the 1960s.

She said: "It was very strange going into work for the last time.

"I just kept thinking this will be the final time I do this and the final time I do that - it was quite surreal.

"It was a bizarre day because I have always felt that I was looking after the house for the Pennymans.

"But I will still be able to pop back and make sure everything is all right.

"Since the National Trust took over, there have been a lot of changes at the hall, especially to the building, where large parts in the old wing were more or less derelict."

Property manager Stephen Cornford said: "Brenda came with the house.

"When the trust took over the running of the hall, it tried to impose its own style, but Brenda soon put it right by showing us how the Pennymans kept the house.

"Fortunately, we decided to learn from her and, as a result, the house is shown very much as the family left it.

"Brenda's retirement marks the end of an era at the hall as she is the last person to have worked for the Pennymans.