HEBDEN'S familiar Old School clock could strike once more after being silent for 11 years.

Local couple Iain and Amanda Geldard are spearheading a restoration project with the help of the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

The clock is on the bell tower at the village's former school building, which is now The Old School Tearooms, run by Mr and Mrs Geldard.

With help and funding from the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, work has started to restore the old school clock to its former glory and to repair the former school bell and its housing at the same time.

The school was originally built by local subscription from Hebden parishioners and was opened by the Bishop of Ripon in 1870.

The building was gifted to the Church of England in the 20th century and was subsequently sold into private ownership after the school closed in 1983.

The original 1870s Bailey and Company clock had fallen into disrepair over the years, but these works will not materially affect its historic fabric.

Mrs Geldard told the Herald: "The clock has not been cleaned since it was put in and in the last 11 years it has only run for six weeks.

"We got it going for that length of time, but then it kept breaking down and we were told that this was because it wasn't clean.

"We were also told that if we kept running it, it would wear out, so we have not been winding it up since then."

Meanwhile, work also had to be done on the wooden frame housing the old school bell as it had rotted away and could no longer support the bell which had to be taken down and stored.

The housing is now being restored, the bell re-hung and a new clapper cast.

A spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust said: "The project will ensure that the clock continually works for the benefit of both local people and those travelling through the village on the Grassington to Pateley Bridge Road.

"The works will bring redundant features into their original use and avoid the need for more major repairs at a later date."

The total cost of repairs was just over £6,000 - 40 per cent of the funding is European money secured by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and 50 per cent is a Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust grant.

The project is part of the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust's £9million EnviroNet project, part funded by a £4million grant from the Millennium Commission, to carry out conservation work and improvements throughout the Dales.