WHEN Doreen Hough sits with a cup of tea in the cafe at Turton Tower she can be transported back 70 years to a time when she sat there as a little girl.

But in those days she was a resident of this most beautiful building rather than a visitor.

For Doreen and her sister Elsie grew up at Turton Tower having moved in with their aunt and uncle Albert and Bertha Barrett, in 1940, when their father was called up to fight in World War Two.

At that time Albert and Bertha were living in a two up, two down and when Doreen's mother, Elizabeth, died her father Job, asked if they would take care of his daughters.

"He didn't want us splitting up so he asked his sister to look after us," says Doreen, who is 76-years-old.

The girls would remain with their aunt and uncle and when Albert became caretaker of Turton Tower, in 1948, the youngsters went with him.

This would be the beginning of an idyllic childhood for Doreen and her elder sister (Elsie is now aged 78) with extensive grounds to play in and a fantastically atmospheric hall to run around they were thrilled.

"I had a wonderful childhood," explains Doreen, who has used the experience to tell the story of her life, as a child, at Turton Tower giving talks all over the North West.

Her uncle had worked in two local bleach works before applying for, and securing, the job as caretaker at the Tower, and so began a life that most children could only dream of.

Although food was still rationed, after World War Two, Doreen and Elsie always had full stomachs thanks to Albert's wonderful kitchen garden which boasted a wide range of vegetables — and a greenhouse that provided enough tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce not only for the family but also for many of the residents of Turton.

Although she was living in a museum Doreen recalls that as it was only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays when Uncle Albert would give guided tours.

"They didn't come in our private quarters," explains Doreen, who loves going back to the hall to stand in her old bedroom and in the living room (now the cafe).

Summers spent in the gardens where uncle built the girls their own tennis court and days spent in the historic Tower are all recalled by an enthusiastic Doreen, whose love for the Tower is, perhaps, inevitable but certainly infectious.

So what about the rumours of a ghost at the Tower?

"I've never seen it but I know someone who has," Doreen reveals rather secretively and she also mentions the cradle that came from Bradshaw Hall that rocks when no-one is around.

She recalls the pantry where all the perishable produce was stored ("there were no fridges in those days").

With its clocks and skulls brought from Bradshaw Hall when it was demolished and its own artefacts Turton Tower makes a fantastic historical venue right on our doorstep and one which Doreen is so very rightly proud of.

"I think Uncle Albert would be proud of the fact that I still talk about my childhood there," she says of her uncle who retired from the Tower in 1964.

Doreen (who was in the police force) and Elsie were both married from Turton Turton and it is a part of their lives they will never forget.

"We had the happiest childhood you can imagine," she says.