The famous Hartlepool clock that ticked again and the 6500 people who put their name down for bingo - it all happened in 1995

We are talking about 1995 and it was a year which was packed with news for Hartlepool and East Durham.

Mecca Bingo and the multi-screen cinema were on the way. Binns clock was being fixed and so was a historic fishing boat.

Want to find out more? Read on.

:: A clock on one of Hartlepool’s most famous landmarks was ticking again thanks to the loving work of Tony Charlesworth.

Tony repaired two sides of the three-sided clock on the former Hartlepool Binns building.

The installations engineer expects the whole of the clock – which stopped in 1993 – to be working again before Christmas 1995.

:: A state-of-the-art multi-screen cinema was to be built in the town.

The multi-million pound six-screen development would be built on a four-acre site at the Marina - next to the new Mecca bingo hall.

Work was expected to start on the project early in the new year of 1996.

:: A staggering 6,500 people applied for membership of Hartlepool’s new multi-million pound bingo hall on the Marina.

And Top Rank - the company which was investing £3.9 million in the Mecca Bingo Club - says it expected membership to pass the 10,000 mark by the time the club opened.

The 30,000 sq ft purpose-built bingo hall, situated near the Marina Gateway bridge was due to open in February 1996. Top Rank interviewed 350 people local people for the 80 jobs on offer.

:: Jennifer Stobbart had to pull out of Peterlee’s biggest Christmas concert – and wa replaced by her little sister.

The ten-year-old singing starlet was all set to feature in a Carol service at Peterlee Leisure Centre until a bout of flu forced her to step down.

But there to take her place at the last minute and sing a solo in front of more than 1,000 people was Jennifer’s eight-year-old sister Elizabeth.

:: Schoolchildren parted with hundreds of their favourite toys to help others at Christmas.

The pupils at St Aidan’s Primary School each brought something in for their toy service, which the school has held for the last three years.

Headteacher Ian Railton said: “The children are all looking forward to Christmas, but we wanted to teach them that it is also a time to think about others who are less fortunate than they are.”

:: A unique fishing boat was set to be restored in Hartlepool.

The 111-year-old William McCann - the only surviving example of a large North Sea Fishing Smack - was docked in the town’s Marina complex.

It was bought by the William McCann Trust, which was hoping to restore the vessel back to its former glory.

:: Pensioner Billy Smith, 76, was taking on and beating all comers on the pool table at the Spotted Cow pub in Musgrave Street. But what’s more surprising is Mr Smith only took up the game six weeks earlier.

:: 16 cases of meningitis were reported in Cleveland and County Durham in one month alone in 1995, health chiefs revealed.

What are your memories of 1995? Tell us more by emailing [email protected]