A WORLD War One history project assisted by research in the Hexham Courant archives has inspired a Stocksfield writer to compose her very own stage play.

As a former secretary of Stocksfield Local History Society, Rachel Cochrane spent hours poring over aging volumes of the paper, which recorded many of the sacrifices of the 40 brave soldiers from the village who lost their lives in the conflict.

The project, compiled by volunteers in 2009 to provide a permanent record of the key chunk of the village’s history, was inspired by the callous theft of a plaque bearing the names of the fallen from the village war memorial.

Suspecting the bronze plaque had been targeted for its scrap metal value, police launched an investigation, but the historic memorial was never recovered.

And it gave Rachel and her fellow history society members a renewed sense of urgency to bring to life the names of those honoured.

“I spent a lot of time looking at old Hexham Courants and following what had happened to those lost,” said Rachel, who left behind a career in clinical pharmacy to focus on writing.

Among the names she helped research was Charles Noel Turner, known as Charlie, who was born in Ovingham in 1890 and who served as a company quartermaster sergeant in the 20th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Aged just 26, he was posted missing on July 1, 1916, and later presumed killed in action.

Today he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme which bears the names of more than 72,000 men, and on St George’s War Memorial in Mickley.

Thomas Edward Stobart, who was a Sunday school teacher, enlisted as a private in the Northumberland Hussars in August 1914, and later transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment.

On July 21, 1917, the Courant reported that Pte. Stobart had died of wounds which had been so serious his leg had been amputated. He never recovered from the operation and died on May 8, 1917, aged just 22.

Also a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers, Benjamin Slack, a draper’s office clerk and auxiliary postman, was born in Mickley Square in 1886.

His death is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, as well as on the memorials at St George’s Church, Mickley, and in Stocksfield village.

The 29-year-old was killed in action on April 25, 1915.

“It was really the theft of that plaque which led on to the research and inspired the play which I’ve called Ever Rolling Stream,” said Rachel.

“I started working on the script several years ago, but like many writers, I hit a wall with it.”

Having picked it up again, and seen it through to completion, Rachel, who has worked with the Stocksfield Players amateur dramatic group for many years, is ready for local actors and actresses with an interest in performing the play to come forward.

“The play is set today, but the key theme is really about a mother – Judith – learning to let go when her son reveals he wants to join the Army.”

Set in the fictional village of Stockwell, 11 characters are brought together when a plaque bearing the names of the fallen from WWI, is stolen from the village war memorial. Sound familiar?

When a group of locals meet in Judith’s house ‘Broadacres’ to research the fallen, they uncover the mystery of Charles Kilvington-North (a fictional soldier), who had lived in Broadacres, but whose name was not listed on the memorial.

Judith – a single mum who struggles with her rebellious teenager, Ben – must learn to let go and allow her son to make his own decisions.

Meanwhile, Charles and his mother play out their Edwardian lives in parallel.

“As things unravel, the audience finally discovers what happened to Charles,” said Rachel.

“The Stocksfield Players have already helped me by reading through it and, as part of that, I was able to make a few changes. It’s been a wonderful process.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Rachel is also preparing to take her one-woman monologue performance Celia to the Edinburgh Fringe, with the help of Whitley Bay actress Penny Lamport.

“I’ve always held a dream to take Celia to the Fringe,” said Rachel, who wrote the diary of the fictional character five years ago.

Celia is now a live stage performance – a heady mix of what real women think but dare not say, together with a dollop of imagination, all liberally sprinkled with humour.

“We did a pop-up show at the Newcastle Jazz Co-op in May and we got such great feedback that we started to look into whether it would be possible,” Rachel added.

Performances will take place between Thursday, August 7 and Sunday, August 11 at Spotlites, Venue 278, 22-26 George Street.

Any local acting groups interested in performing Ever Rolling Stream can email Rachel on hello@rachelcochrane.com