STAFF at Evenwood firm CA Group gave up their time and expertise to refurbish a village landmark to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
The Randolph coal tub was unveiled amid much fanfare in 1999 as part of a millennium project, but time had taken its toll over the past quarter of a century leaving it rusty and corroded.
The tub, which serves as a tribute to the village’s coal miners, and as a memorial for Dr John Neville. who served the Evenwood community for four decades, was commissioned by the Evenwood Tidy Village group.
The original tub was located in Lanchester by Cllr John Armstrong, brought to the village and refurbished by Ian Stephenson, who worked at Evenwood Engineering.
A time capsule was hidden inside the tub, which was topped up with granite chippings painted to look like the coal it had carried during its working life.
Jackie Dodds of Evenwood and District History Society said: “The capsule was put in by Evenwood and Ramshaw school children, but it is not to be opened for 50 years, and we debated whether to open it now but we have left it. In another 25 years we aren’t going to be here.”
Fellow society member Brian Carter added that hundreds of balloons were released by children during the unveiling as part of a balloon race to see who would open the time capsule half-a-century later.
The race was won by a boy who still lives in the village.
Mr Carter said: “His balloon ended up in Alnwick – he will be 60 by the time they re-open it.”
It was the history group that noticed the tub had fallen into disrepair while out taking photographs of various areas in the village.
Mrs Dodds said: “I had a word with CA Group, who immediately said they could repair it and bring it back up to standard. You can see what a cracking job they have done of it.”
Bryan Hammond and Laurie Brown, from the firm, forged new parts to replace areas the metal had corroded through, while colleagues Roselle Cox and Emma McCutcheon did the sprucing up.
Ms McCutcheon said: “It took about an hour cleaning it down and a good two hours to paint.”
The firm also donated a plant pot to brighten up the area.
While work was being carried out, it was noticed that a nearby bench, installed by the Evenwood Tidy Village group in 2001, was also in need of attention. Along with rust, some of the letters spelling out “Evenwood” in the backrest had gone missing and others were damaged
Ms McCutcheon said: “Laurie says he will be looking at restoring the bench as well.”
Mr Brown added: “It will be better than new.”
