[2] But these qualifications were not the basis of her career: Norrie was born to act and as a young girl she loved to peep through a hole in the curtain to watch The Hardy Players rehearse in the dining room of her home [at the hotel].
As soon as she was old enough she joined them, and during the First World War, as part of a group called The Gypsies, would recite poems for the soldiers who were camping on Poundbury.
She recovered, but the family retired from their business at the hotel, and moved to a house in Crossways , a village 6 miles to the east of Dorchester.
The family bought Sunnybrook Poultry Farm in Owermoigne, and Norrie invested in some white Wyandottes; they later won a Gold Medal at the Dorset Laying Trials.
Woodhall and the New Hardy Players, supported by institutions such as the University of Exeter and the Dorset County Museum, launched a campaign to raise £58,000 to buy the collection.
Her will stated that "I wish to be cremated after a short non-religious service and my ashes to be scattered in the garden of 22 Moreton Road, Owermoigne."
A memorial service was held at Dorchester United Church on 21 November 2011, at which Lord Julian Fellowes addressed the large gathering.
A year earlier he had interviewed Norrie in Thomas Hardy's study at the Dorset Museum & Art Gallery.