DURING half-a-century working as a stonemason, there are few farm buildings or cottages in his dale that John Coatsworth has not worked on at least once.

Work in places such as Upper Harwood and Forest-in-Teesdale, County Durham, have been his life since he left school at 15 to work as an apprentice for estate owner Lord Barnard.

Now, after modernising and indulging his passion for laying stone slates on countless white-washed farm buildings and cottages, he has finally called it a day.

As a tribute to his loyalty and devotion, Lord Barnard hosted a retirement dinner for about 40 estate workers and family and friends of Mr Coatsworth at the Langdon Beck Hotel, in the upper dale.

At the dinner was 69-year-old John Coates, who also gave 50 years' service as a stonemason to Raby Estates. Mr Coatsworth's great friend, he retired four years ago.

Lord Barnard said: "The contribution the two Johns have made to preserving the heritage of Upper Teesdale has been tremendous.

"They have done a wonderful job. They have been so loyal. They will be sadly missed."

Appropriately, Teesdale lamb was the main course for the dinner.

Mr Coatsworth, who was brought up in a farming family at West Stotley, near Middleton, first worked for Lord Barnard, then the Honourable Harry Vane, at Upper Teesdale Estates.

He said: "I think it would be fair to say that we both shared the same love of preserving the traditional look of buildings in the upper dale.

"Some of my work has been modernising old buildings, removing outside netties and installing inside toilets, for example.

"But there have been an awful lot of stone slates replaced on roofs.

"Over the years, we must have replaced thousands of them.

"In the early days, the estate had at least 50 smallholdings and buildings in the remote Harwood-in-Forest area alone.

"But the numbers have dwindled, along with the great old characters who have been born and bred here. Many of them would have you in stitches."

Mr Coatsworth, who lives at Middleton, intends spending much of his retirement on caravan holidays with his wife, Joan.

He said: "I will really miss not going to work.

"How many people can have been so lucky to have had a job where they would drive to work each morning in such a beautiful place as this?"