TIME stood still for Mr Graham Tebbs when he saw the picture on the wall. For there, 13,000 miles from home, was an aerial shot of his own town of Yarm.

It was a golden moment for the man who winds up Yarm town hall clock, made doubly amazing when he learnt that New Zealand clock museum displaying the picture was started by a member of the family which used to be lords of the manor in Yarm.

Mr Tebbs is still reeling from the discovery made while he and his wife, Dorothy, were on holiday in August.

Through a New Zealand guide, Mrs Tebbs had spotted the Clapham clock museum en route through the town of Whangarei.

Going to see it was a must for someone as keenly interested in clocks as Mr Tebbs, who works as a CD technician at Egglescliffe school. "It seemed too good to miss, but we never made any connection with the name Clapham."

The Clapham family were lords of the manor in Yarm. They had the title to the town hall and gave in deed of gift to the people the fair, the cobbles and the hall.

Mr Tebbs knew the name from a brass plaque on a High Street wall during his boyhood days.

Inside the museum Mr Tebbs heard his wife gasp: "I don't believe it."

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