Letter writer, train lover, historian and Plumbland son, John Charters, was given the send off he deserved this week.

Villagers had united to ensure that the 68-year-old, who died at the Dales Residential Home in Maryport, came back to his home and was given a decent funeral.

Mr Charters was a regular contributor to the Times & Star letters page, writing on a whole range of subjects from parish pump issues to national and international events.

When he died, on April 4, a search for relatives began prompting fears in the village that he would have a pauper’s funeral with no-one to attend.

Relatives were finally tracked down and he was given a traditional church funeral service in the church where his father had been warden and where Mr Charters served as an altar boy.

As he was carried out of church on Monday afternoon, the church bell was tolled in memory of the fact that this was his job as a youngster.

Vicar Peter Streatfield, said Mr Charters had not been a regular church attender in his adult years, "but I am told that he prayed every day - not just for himself but for others, too."

There has been an outpouring of tributes to Mr Charters since his death.

Posting on the Old Aspatria Facebook group, people have shared memories of him.

Pete Young wrote: “I knew John from my dairy days at Aspatria MMB and from his interest in the railways in the area.

“He once whittled me a walking stick from a length of hazel branch and we used to stand and talk for hours on end about the history of the town.”

June Biggs, who now lives in New Zealand, used the Facebook page to post her memories of him.

“I remember John too as a very clever man,” she recalled. “He came in the old Royal Oak pub for a drink.

“He published local history – when I looked at my family tree and Plumbland he came up on Google."

Others also remember his intelligence, with people singling out his wealth of knowledge about the local area.