They were some of the 5,000 people who were born at Hazlewood Castle after it was requisitioned as a maternity hospital from 1939 until 1953.

The castle, now run as a luxury hotel, opened its doors to more than 500 of the "Hazlewood babies" along with friends and family for a 70th anniversary celebration on Wednesday.

Among the visitors enjoying cream tea on the lawn was the very first baby ever born at the castle, Hazel Hewitt, who was able to pinpoint the place she was born in the old maternity ward.

Mrs Hewitt's birth certificate had been displayed in the castle for many years while it was used as a retreat by the Carmelite friars after the maternity unit closed, before being transformed into a hotel in 1997. She proudly brought the certificate with her, showing her name was originally spelt Hazle, after her birthplace.

Mrs Hewitt's mother was one of the first pregnant women to be evacuated from Leeds in 1939 to the safety of the country castle and, after the birth, the family returned to the city. Mrs Hewitt went on to join the RAF for four years where she met her husband, and the couple settled in Norfolk to raise their three children.

Meanwhile, several members of one family took the opportunity to revisit the castle - and even met up with some old school friends while they were there.

John Udakis, 61, and sisters Eileen Johnson, 64, and Joan Dixon, 62, were all born at Hazlewood - as were Mr Udakis's wife, Jane, and Mrs Dixon's husband, John.

Mrs Johnson said: "Our mother worked here in the hospital and then when that shut she just worked anywhere in the castle. She really enjoyed it."

As children, the trio lived just a few minutes from Hazlewood and regularly walked through the grounds to meet their mother.

Mr Udakis remembered running through the woods as a child, while his future wife was a regular visitor to friends at the castle with her parents.

She said she was surprised at the number of Hazlewood babies who had returned for the visit, some from as far away as Australia.

"You wouldn't realise all these people have been born here," she said. "When we were kids we never thought about it. But when I was at school and people asked where I was born, they were impressed when I told them."

Mrs Johnson added: "It's such a lovely place. Obviously it has changed since we used to come when we were kids but the castle itself is still the same."