Blickling Hall's grand staircase has been fully opened to the public for the first time in the stately home's history.

Visitors to the National Trust property, near Aylsham, can now trail their hands along banisters used by towering figures from modern history including Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who stayed at Blickling during the 1936 abdication crisis, Nancy Astor, the first woman MP, and Nazi Germany's foreign minister Von Ribbentrop, who visited in 1938 as war-clouds gathered.

The sweeping staircase, in the Great Hall, has been closed to most of the public since the National Trust was left the Jacobean mansion by its owner, the 11th Marquis of Lothian, when he died in 1940.

Helen Bailey, who manages the Blickling Estate, said the Trust had been concerned that the stairs, built in two parts from the 1620s to 1767, would not be able to support the weight of visitors to the property, which now welcomes over 100,000 people each year.

But extensive load-bearing tests in the winter of 2009-2010 had shown that they could take up to 3.5 tonnes: 'No way are any of our visitors that big!' she said.

A major �65,000 project to restore the staircase has been underway since early January and visitors have been taking an interest in the scaffolding and work which has included fixing a wobbly mule post, installing extra timbers, treating the 'heady mix' of woods for deathwatch beetle, and fitting a specially-commissioned carpet dyed to the shade of red used in the 1930s when the staircase is last believed to have been covered.

Preparations for the work saw house manager Jan Brookes and her team removing as much as possible from the area, including large portraits of men Blickling staff call the 'Norfolk Worthies': the likes of Britain's first Prime Minister Robert Walpole and Viscount 'Turnip' Townshend, who played an important role in the agricultural revolution, were taken down from the staircase walls and given a clean by conservationists.

They were back in place to look down over holidaymakers Mark and Ann Holliday, from Nottingham, who were staying at East Runton, near Cromer, and were the first to arrive on Wednesday morning at Blickling where they were invited to cut the ribbon, 'salute the staircase' with a glass of fizz, and become the first members of the public to make their way up the stylish flight.

The couple, life members of the National Trust, said the experience had been 'good fun.' Mrs Holliday added: 'I wish I'd known in advance. It's such a grand staircase that I feel I should at least have been wearing some lipstick!'