Turning back the clock . . .

The double-faced timepiece they bought for £130 has shown the correct time consistently for the past 93 years. It has become a valuable landmark in Westgate — and is a useful timecheck for thousands of people who travel up and down the main road in Weardale every day.

They are all missing it at the moment as it has been taken down for repairs that will cost £10,800. But it will be back on the front of the village hall for the 100th anniversary of the war’s outbreak next year, and is then likely to keep perfect time for many more decades.

Fund-raising efforts are now going on to pay the bill — and some folk have called at the home of hall treasurer Peter Nattrass to hand in donations.

“That shows the genuine feeling there is for the clock,”

he said. The 13 soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice are named on a stone tablet beneath the clock.

Lance Corporal William Coulthard

They include two brothers, John and William Coulthard.

The others are J Brown, T Bell, William Egglestone, A Furnace, Albert Hodgson, Edward Fairless, David Peacock, J Stewart, Jacob Colling, William Walton and Fred Walton.

Nine were in the Durham Light Infantry. Also named on a roll of honour are 41 other Westgate men who served in the war and survived. Most probably attended a ceremony at which the clock was unveiled in 1920 after being supplied by William Potts and Sons of Leeds.

The firm’s catalogue from which it was chosen is still in the hall records, along with a receipt for £130, signed over a red George V tuppenny postage stamp. There is a simple control box in a cupboard in the hall. It has to be wound up once a week, a task mostly done by Eric Antal when he arrives to play bowls. But if he is not there the winding is done by Mr Nattrass, who says: “It has always been extremely reliable.

It has been stopped occasionally by snow or ice, but apart from that has always worked well. It is a wonderful asset to the area.”

Hall chairman David Heatherington describes the timepiece as magnificent, but feels some people don’t realise it is a war memorial.

“It serves to remember not only of our own troops who died but all the men and women who have fallen while serving their country,” he stated. A later roll of honour lists 11 Westgate men killed in the Second World War.

They are E. Anderson, J.

Elliott, P.McGirk. N.

Muschamp, M.Peart, L.T. Raine, H. Ross, M. Race, N.

Shilsher, C. Wall and D. Woods. It also names 34 who got home safely. Another scroll honours six airmen who died when a Wellington bomber crashed on Westernhope Moor in 1943.

The fund raising is going well. Over £4,000 has been promised, including £2,000 from County Councillor Anita Savory’s community budget. There are hopes that a healthy sum will come from the Weardale Action Partnership.

The parish council is expected to chip in and a bumper raffle is being organised. John Guyan is planning a weekly sweepstake and several village organisations are giving support.

The village hall will match the sums raised, up to a total of £2,000. There are two other war memorial clocks in the dale, at Wearhead and Frosterley, but they each have only one face and are fixed flat against walls.

The hall, originally known as the Men’s Institute, has steep steps inside, so it has an amenity that few others possess: a sit-on stairlift.

Despite its fine qualities the clock is stopped now and then for an unusual reason.

Private Albert Hodgson

During musical evenings some performers are distracted by its sturdy ticktock and ask for it to be silenced until their act is over.

THERE has always been public sorrow when anyone has fallen to their death over High Force, though at times the victims have been foolhardy.

But there was special sympathy after George Stephenson lost his life because he suffered when a rescue attempt went wrong.

The 30-year-old store manager was on a walking holiday with a friend, Henry Luke, a schoolmaster, when he suffered two strokes of misfortune.

The pair reached the waterfall on a pleasant summer afternoon in 1880.

They went to the top of the rocks on the Durham side of the Tees, then stepped over shallow water to sit on the central rock.

They admired the scenery for a while, just as many thousands did in the past in complete safety. But then a sudden flood swept down the river.

It was the type of bore that could come down without warning after heavy rain in the hills, but became less likely after Cow Green reservoir was opened. They were stranded on the central area as the water level rose steadily towards them. They yelled for help, and other visitors who saw them ran to the High Force Hotel to report the emergency. A group of men, led by gamekeeper William Raine, ran from there with ropes.

One rope was thrown into the middle.

Mr Luke tied it round his chest and was pulled through the torrent onto the riverbank. The rope was then thrown back and Mr Stephenson tied it round his chest.

The rescuers were pulling him through the gushing water when the rope snapped and he plunged over the fall. The rescue team rushed down to the lower level, but he had been swept away.

His body was found two days later at Towler Hill, a mile from Barnard Castle.

He had planned to get a train from Middleton that night to his home in Gateshead.

An inquest at the Swan Inn at Startforth recorded a verdict of accidental death.

In recent times, Raby Estates have blocked the route to the top of the rocks and put up signs warning visitors not to go there because of the danger.

In the 1990s, some visitors were stranded on the central rocks but were rescued by firemen from Middleton, who put a ladder over the gap and led them to safety.

ROBERT DAVISON, a prosperous jeweller with premises in Market Place, Bishop Auckland, acted quickly when he was wakened in the night and saw a light passing his bedroom door.

He hurriedly got out his double barrelled shotgun, roused his son Henry and gave him a loaded revolver.

High Force as painted in 1907 and reproduced in Michael Rudd’s 2007 book, The Discovery of Teesdale. The two men walked from the top rock on the right onto the middle section before becoming trapped

They crept downstairs, meaning to use the weapons if they came across an intruder, but found only broken windows at the front and back of the property.

They decided the burglar had got away, but a quick check revealed nothing had been stolen.

In the morning, however they realised that a gold watch, albert and dress ring had been taken. Police found footprints outside the property.

Their activity caused a lot of spectators to stand around watching in March 1872.

But the officers called off their investigation when the stolen items arrived back by post the following day.

They were in a box addressed to Robert Davison, jeweller, but with no explanation.

One theory was that the thief heard about the shotgun and revolver, and felt it too dangerous to keep his haul in case the jeweller discovered his identity and used the weapons on him.

Other folk felt it was some kind of hoax by someone who went in to play a trick on Davison, but left quicklly when he woke up. It was just as well for everyone that the shotgun and revolver were not fired.