SINCE April 100,000 people have been to see the seven Yorkshire country houses linked by the Maids and Mistresses exhibitions.

The exhibitions draw on a wealth of new research and show previously unseen correspondence, diaries, artworks, poetry and novels etc which show life upstairs and downstairs in our great houses.

The Examiner has already reported how some of the stories from Nostell Priory are being brought to life in a series of theatrical pieces scripted by director and writer Steven Downs.

But how about some of the stories from the other houses: relatively far off Castle Howard, near York, and Burton Constable Hall, at Skirlaugh, near Hull; or relatively nearby Harewood House, Lotherton Hall at Aberford, and Temple Newsam, all near Leeds, and Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, Doncaster.

Take your pick from the scandalous Lady Worsley, Burton Constable's wife-to-be who sacked the place of valuables, or the Lotherton sisters who sold off the family silver to mitigate the effects of the Irish potato famine.

The exhibitions, pioneered through the Yorkshire Country House Partnership, run to October 31 at six houses, until September 30 at Lotherton Hall. Details on www.ychp.org.uk