Edward Fairless knew tragedy early in life when both his parents died.

But he buckled down gamely at his village school and won a scholarship to a grammar school, where he also excelled.

He went on to a college where he achieved high grades all round as he qualified for a teaching certificate before starting a promising classroom career - only to die in battle at the age of 24.

The story of his pluck and determination emerged at Westgate on Saturday when a large clock - put up on the village hall in 1920 in memory of him and 12 other local men who gave their lives in the First World War - was rededicated at a simple service.

Edward, a lance corporal in the 18th Durham Light Infantry, was killed at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

After he was orphaned he was brought up by his uncle William Fairless, a quarryman of Briar Hill, Westgate - and William's great grandson, George Fairless, was at the clock ceremony with his wife Pat.

The couple, who live in the village, are rightly proud of their family member who did so well in his short life.

At Wolsingham Grammar he was school captain for a year as well as a notable sportsman, being skipper of the football and cricket teams.

He went on to a York training college, where he passed all exams with flying colours.

He worked as a pupil teacher at Witton le Wear for a time, and was a qualified teacher at Spennymoor before going off to war.

After he died he was described as one of the finest men in his company.

An officer wrote that his loss was an example of the fine line between death and safety, as he was standing between two other men when he was hit by a bombardment and they escaped unhurt.

He was buried in St Vaast Post military cemetery. The rededication was conducted by the Reverend Andrew Cromarty, who paid tribute to all those who had died or served in this war and others.

Documents displayed in the village hall showed how meticulous records were kept during fundraising for the clock in 1920 when £196 three shllings and tuppence ha'penny was collected to buy the clock and have it fitted.

The timepiece cost £130 and other items amounted to £58 and 10 pence, so just over £8 was left in the kitty. All the money spent was also documented exactly.

Local builders, George Race and Son, put in a bill for work they did and material they used, including tuppence for eight 2-inch screws.

Mrs A. Martindale's bill was 4 shillings 8 pence (23p) for laundry. This was probably tablecloths used for fundraising teas.

David Heatherington, the hall chairman, thanked everyone involved in raising £15,600 for the repairs.

This was far beyond the target of £10,800 but the extra cash meant a better job could be done, and a useful sum was left over for future maintenance.

About £7,000 came from the village itself. Treasurer Peter Nattrass was praised for the way he organised the effort.

Around 40 villagers who attended were able to exchange memories of former servicemen, including some of those who gave their lives, and were treated to a tasty spread of food.

One of the most talented men ever known in the dales was Jacob Readshaw, who could turn his hand to a wide variety of tasks.

He was noted mostly as a cabinet maker who created an array of high quality furniture. A good number of his pieces are still in use in local houses.

He made the pulpit and altar rails which have been admired for more than a century in St Mary's Parish Church at Middleton.

He was also a skilful artist. An example of his work is a fine picture of the old parish church shortly before it was demolished. It hangs in the present structure which replaced it.

He was born in 1824 at Hunstanworth in the Derwent Valley, where his father, also Jacob, worked in lead mining.

The family then moved to Middleton, where the mine worker and his wife Sarah became tenants of one of the new houses built in Masterman Place by the London Lead Company for its workers.

They were well designed and finished homes with rents of just over a shilling a week.

The couple had five children: Elizabeth, John, Mary, Sarah and Jacob. While most boys in the area began work for the lead company, young Jacob learned carpentry.

As demand for his furniture grew he took on and trained four employees, so he ran a flourishing business.

As a sideline he started making violins, which proved to be of such a good standard that they were bought by leading musicians of the day.

He became a keen photographer, taking some of the earliest snapshots in the upper dale. He made money by taking portraits of local residents.

He took a keen interest in astrology, reading all the books he could find on the subject, before building his own 6ft long telescope for which he made his own lenses.

Dark parts of the moors near Middleton were parfect for studying the sky without interference from lights.

After studying the moon through it he drew a large map of the lunar surface and later created a papier-mache model of it.

This was displayed for a long time in Middleton School. He was also secretary of Middleton Gas Company for some years.

As if all this was not enough for one man he gave a lot of his time to Middleton Wesleyan Church. He held all the important offices at various times and was a busy lay preacher.

He was regularly in the pulpit of Methodist chapels in Teesdale and Weardale, and was noted for his strong sermons which kept everyone interested.

Jacob was still leading a busy life until shortly before he died at his home in Wesley Terrace, Middleton, at the age of 87 in September 1912.

His father, who had become an ore washing agent for the company, had lived to the age of 89.

Postman George Spence, who worked in the Willington area, had a remarkable escape from death when he was on his round at Newfield in February 1900.

He was walking over a railway line as a colliery locomotive was approaching.

He had plenty of time to get across safely, but he slipped on ice and slush then lay dazed with no chance of moving out of the way.

But by pure luck he landed on the track right between the rails and the engine passed above him, with its wheels on either side missing him by inches.

The firebox did catch him and drag him along for some distance, injuring his arms and back. But it could easily have been so much worse.

The incident came as a thaw was starting following a snowstorm which brought the dales to a standstill for days.

Just about every road in Weardale and Teesdale was blocked by drifts along with others all over the north.

Another postmen was lost on his round in Arkengarthdale, but a search party found him safe.

Snowploughs were sent out from Barnard Castle to try to clear roads, but they became stranded in drifts.

Mail vans could not be pulled through drifts on many roads, so postmen had to take large quantities of letters and parcels on horseback.

Witton le Wear colliery and Gordon House mine were closed, along with other pits.

This resulted in a shortage of coal all over the area. Customers protested about not being able to heat their homes, and there was anger when fuel did reach them because the price had risen sharply.

Eight trains were trapped in drifts in the area and hardly any services could run. One locomotive was kept running up and down the line between Stanhope and Wearhead to keep it open.

An inquest in Darlington was delayed for hours because Coroner Proud could not get a train from Bishop Auckland.

Telegraph wires were blown down so it was impossible for messages to be sent stating the position of trains, and officials admitted they did not know exactly where many of them were.

Hundreds of sheep were overblown on the moors and farmers had a tough job trying to find and rescue them during lulls in the blizzards. It was described as the worst storm in the dales for years.

Wilma Cowan got in touch following a piece here about my £650,000 lottery win.

She did even better, being told she had won £1m. My fortune was offered from South Africa, while her one originated in Canada. But her award documents ended up where they belonged, in the bin like mine.