VISITORS to historic Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham found themselves in the middle of a Victorian drama.

The magical Bringing History to Life session at the National Trust Property saw visitors learning how to lay a table and how to fold napkins under the watchful eye of butler Wingfield -- alias Bill Hemingway, of Simonstone.

The retired drama lecturer has been part of the role-playing team for three years and said: "I had to do a course before we started to learn to find out more about the etiquette of the dining room and the relationship between the servant and master."

"I attend to everything in the dining room and give lessons if the visitors are interested and when we have school parties I get them to clean the silver!"

Jean Bleasdale, from Failsworth, was delighted to walk in on the drama and said: "I learned how to fold a napkin in the shape of a bishop's mitre -- and I got offered a job.

"But when he said it was £10 a year I said I wouldn't work for less than £12 and said I would think about it!

"This was completely unexpected we had just come to visit the hall." Evelyn Cowell from Roe Lee, Blackburn, enjoyed listening to Lady Blanche Shuttleworth and Wingfield discussing the ceiling in the drawing room.

She said: "I like the house and I think the role-playing is good it makes the place come alive."

Lady Blanche, Sheila Casey of Manchester, put down her book Scarsdale, written by her father-in-law Sir James Shuttleworth, for a chat.

She said: "We don't have a script -- just a series of ideas -- and we work round those and try to go round the hall into the different rooms."

We were interrupted by Wingfield who inquired to whom the Lady was speaking and when he found out it was a newspaper announced to the packed drawing room: "We are going up in the world!"

Down in the kitchen, housemaid Mrs Fairfax, alias Mauren Fenton, from Clitheroe, had a different idea on who ran things.

She said: "Wingfield is unpredictable. Butlers always have high ideas of themselves but from my point of view a lot of the day-to-day running of the house is under my control.

"The house wouldn't run smoothly under his."