The longest serving member of staff at a South Lakeland law firm has retired – after working for the practice for nearly 70 years.

Isabel Aiken joined Arnold Greenwood & Son back in Easter 1939 after attending the former Kendal High School and Secretarial College.

She was one of only two women in the firm at the time, as solicitors’ offices were traditionally male-dominated.

After serving in the WAF during the Second World War, she returned to the Kendal law firm to discover times had changed a little – two more women were now employed.

From the day she joined the firm until very recently, when Arnold Greenwood’s offices were modernised, she worked in the same room.

Following the creation of the Institute of Legal Executives, she became a member – and later a fellow – and was able to administer oaths.

As a legal executive and head of the firm’s wills, trust and probate department, her principal work involved probate, wills, trusts and income tax, and she has helped countless people during the course of her work.