CELEBRATIONS are under way at Croome Court, near Upton, in honour of estate worker Malcolm Walford, who has marked his 59th year working at the stately home.

Mr Walford, aged 79, is now a room guide at the historic house. Mr Walford started work for the Croome Estate Trust in 1953 after the Coventry family sold the property in the 1940s.

Since then, Mr Walford has seen many owners come and go, but is now helping the National Trust share the court’s recent history with visitors. “I thought my work was done at Croome when I retired in 2009, but since then I have been writing my memoirs and now I have been given the wonderful opportunity of working two mornings a week in the house to talk to visitors,”

said Mr Walford.

Visitors to Croome Court can talk to Mr Walford about his memories of the estate, which span six decades, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

Plans are also being made to publish his memoirs.

The Coventry family was one of the major landowners in the Vale and Cotswolds, whose holdings included Broadway Tower.