ALMOST 60 years after he left his village school, an amateur historian has preserved the building for posterity by creating a miniature model in wood and card.

Pensioner Bill Colley, of Byers Green, near Spennymoor, has been making replicas of landmark industrial buildings in his home community since 1979.

His latest, a 3ft x 2ft 8ins reproduction of Byers Green Primary School as it was when he attended during the Second World War, will be added to a growing collection of his work held in the archives at County Hall, Durham.

Mr Colley, 70, unveiled his model to pupils last week and stayed to answer questions about his days in the classroom. He finished his schooldays at Byers Green, leaving at the age of 14 soon after the conflict ended and worked as a fitter.

He said: "The school was built in 1914 to replace two National schools and the building is largely the same.

"I have built it as it was with outside toilets to show children what it was like in the beginning. I have very happy memories of the school, it did everything it could to prepare us for a future, but it is a shame we didn't have the opportunities there are today."

Mr Colley's previous works include models of Todhills brickworks circa 1937, Byers Green Colliery and famous astronomer Thomas Wright's lodge.