Hotel is the place to party for Ella

Mrs Hall was there at the birth of the hotel and was closely involved in its creation by her daughter Zan and son-in-law Peter.

She and her first husband, Harry Graves, worked alongside them, and colleague Peter Liddamore, doing everything from decorating to serving behind the bar.

"We owe a great deal to her," said Zan.

Ella's granddaughter Carrie said: "She was an absolute Jill of all trades."

Ella, who was christened Helena, was born in Windsor.

At the age of 18 she married Harry, a shoemaker.

Between 1934 and 1947 he made boots for the Army and the couple ran youth clubs and provided accommodation for retired padres recalled as a result of the war.

"Some of them were quite old, well over 60," said Mrs Hall.

The couple moved from Tidworth to Aldershot and on to Chiseldon.

Later they moved to Berrynarbor in Devon, where they ran a paper shop and Mrs Hall walked more than seven miles a day delivering newspapers.

"They were wonderful years," she said. "When I was delivering there was always someone who would say: 'Here I've got a story for you Ella.' We had a lot of friends in Devon."

She and her husband then joined their daughter and son-in-law in transforming Blunsdon House Hotel from a farm into a guesthouse and then into the large establishment it is today.

When Harry died she carried on and a few years later, in 1967, she married Harry Hall, who died eight years later.

Until last year she lived in a ground floor room at the hotel, from where she was able to keep and eye on what was going on. She has since moved into the Park View Nursing home, which is not far away from the hotel.

"She is amazing," said Carrie. "Her mind is alert and she never misses an opportunity to tell a story.

"The staff there love her and she is always keen to know exactly how things are going at the hotel."

Swindon Mayor Derek Benfield was a guest at yesterday's family lunch which was held to mark Ella's special birthday.

Tina Clarke