Alex Keighley, owner of 17th century Steeton High Hall, stands on the right of a group of musicians who entertained visitors at one of his 1930s Open Garden Sundays.

An artist and photographer, his large, impressionistic and elaborately retouched prints had hung in galleries as far apart as London, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Washington and New York. He had been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 1924.

Alex Keighley had restored his garden to reflect an old-world charm, complete with dovecote, topiary, a lily-pond and a giant sundial.

Steeton High Hall was one of the first homes in Yorkshire to join the National (now the Open) Gardens Scheme in 1927, opening its gates to the public each summer to raise funds for Keighley Victoria Hospital. A concert was always provided, with performers treated to tea.

When gentlemanly Mr Keighley died aged 86 in 1947, his obituary recalled how he had been “always ready with a word and greeting for his many friends and visitors”. His Open Garden events had provided Steeton with “one of the pleasantest social functions of the year”.