Getting ready for curtain up on stately home's visitor season

Conservation experts at Nunnington Hall, on the banks of the River Rye, near Helmsley, are preparing for the house's February opening with a deep clean of the National Trust property – including the painstaking task of cleaning the curtains in the former owner's bedroom.

Nunnington Hall traces its origins back to the thirteenth century and the house changed hands a number of times between leading families until Margaret Fife gave Nunnington Hall and its gardens to the National Trust in 1952.

Mrs Fife's bedroom remains one of the most eye-catching parts of the country house.

It features a bed painted in neo-classical style surrounded by a number of family portraits including one of Mrs Fife (nee Rutson) as a young girl in pastel by Paul-Cesar Helleu (1859–1927) and a pencil drawing of Col Fife signed and dated 1915 by William Strang (1859–1921).

Nunnington Hall and its grounds are open from February 19 to November 5. For more information call 01439 748283 fax 01439 748284 or email [email protected]