BRAVE men from a Tynedale hamlet who gave their lives fighting for their country have been immortalised by a new memorial.

The names of eight men from Great Whittington who died in the First World War have been inscribed on a mill stone erected outside the village hall last weekend.

Five of the men had been remembered on a previous wooden memorial that was displayed in the village’s former chapel, but the building has now been converted into a house.

The new memorial was created thanks to the hard work of villager Chris Bryce, who spent several months raising money and sourcing materials for the memorial.

Although not a native of Great Whittington, Chris has lived there for 12 years and decided he wanted to do something for the village.

The idea first came to Chris during the celebrations to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War last year.

He said: “Last year, when there was a lot of celebrations going on with the 100th anniversary, I realised that there wasn’t a war memorial on display in the village.

“I wondered if it was because nobody died, so I started looking into it.

“I found there’s an old memorial, but it was taken into a private house in the village.

“I’ve always done fund-raising for various things.

“I got to a point where I thought I have to do this for the village, and put my talents to use.

“I like to entertain people and make sure they always get something in return.”

Chris, who has raised money for cystic fibrosis research in the past, held a number of fund-raisers, including a music night and a barbecue at the village hall.

He also acquired a mill stone from Ladycross Quarry, near Slaley, and recruited stonemason Nicholas Roswell to engrave the stone.

Chris continued: “We in the village thought we should put it in a dry stone wall and have the stone in the shape of a mill stone, because all the men were rural.

“Robin Turner at Ladycross knew where I was coming from and donated the stone.”

The stone was installed just in time for Remembrance Sunday, and was dedicated with a service at 10.45am in the village.

Chris added: “It was a really good day. About 50 people turned out, and the sun was shining too.”