A familiar face around the castle, Tonia shares what she loves about her role, her favourite time of year and the moments that make Eastnor special
I’ve been at Eastnor for three years, although I previously worked here four or five years ago as a favour to a friend. I started doing some hours for The Woodshed and then found myself in a circus tent in a field, for an event. After that I just never left.
I started in The Woodshed before moving over to housekeeping and actually really enjoyed it, which surprised me. We look after the daily turnovers and general housekeeping, and then when the shoot seasons are over in February, we get all the scaffolding out and are often found hanging off the scaffolding as we give the castle a good deep-clean. It is hard, backbreaking work, but I work with two lovely girls and we have a real giggle, so I really enjoy coming to work.
I also help out with breakfast and weddings sometimes. I did a wedding for an Irish family recently and they were just amazing. They couldn’t stop talking to us and were very kind. That’s one of the best things about working a wedding: it feels like they’re part of our family and we’re part of their family. Every time they came to the bar, they were saying ‘how are you?’ and having a conversation with us. It was so warm and lovely.
I love working here because the team feels like a family. My son has lots of disabilities, so my home and work life balance can sometimes be very stressful. But I have never ever had an issue if I need a day off, need to leave early or I'm going to be late; they're just fantastic. I'm the one getting stressed because I don't like letting people down! The thing I’m proudest of is progressing from working in one area to being given the responsibility to do lots of different jobs for different departments.
My favourite season at Eastnor is winter and especially Christmas. I am Christmas obsessed. I love the trees, I love the flowers, I love the decorations, I love the smell of the open fire. You should see all the decorations coming down the staircase and the smell of the trees. For me, it’s just perfect.