WHETHER it fell over through sheer old age or whether it was craftily sabotaged during the Second World War to prevent the Germans discovering they were 11.5 miles from Tenbury Wells, we’ll never know for sure.

But what is certain is that now tourists in their camper vans, day trippers to the gourmet delights of Ludlow or locals just wandering home from the pub will know exactly where they are.

Because, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated band of enthusiasts, the milestone at Ham Bridge over the river Teme, between Martley and Clifton upon Teme, has been restored to its former glory.

It’s the latest milestone in Worcestershire to have rejuvenating magic dust sprinkled over it in a campaign that aims to see all of the county’s ancient roadside markers brought back to prominence and life.

On this occasion the team of volunteers was led by engineer Martin Horwood from Clifton upon Teme, who has already replaced one milestone in the village.

Keen to see the Ham Bridge stone resurrected – it had sunk so far into the clay soil that only 18 inches instead of about 4ft was showing above ground – he even designed a replica distance plate and paid for it himself.

Terry Keegan ,of Clows Top, near Bewdley, who was among the working party and just happens to be the secretary of the Milestone Society, said: “I think the finished job is a real beauty. It’s another one we can tick off our list.”

Milestones have been about in one form or another since the Romans were here and a couple of centuries ago there were 700 miles of turnpike in the county, which should have meant one stone for every mile.

But as time passed, they were replaced by modern signposts more easily read from newfangled motor cars and milestones became a thing of the past, neglected, overgrown and in many cases damaged.

A severe blow was dealt in 1940, when a government decree declared all milestones should be removed in case the Germans invaded without a map.

Many of the cast iron plates were levered off and thrown on the scrapheap and the stones either taken away or pushed over so they could not be easily seen.

However, in 2000 the national Milestone Society was formed with the aim of recording, restoring and renovating as many old stones as they could find and in Worcestershire a group of 20 enthusiasts set about the task with due diligence. They have worked out the locations of most of the county’s roadside markers and in due course hope to restore as many as possible.

The job at Ham Bridge was completed in about half-an-hour on a sunny Sunday morning by a group of half-a-dozen volunteers, plus a very useful JCB machine which lifted the half-ton stone into place and avoided any hernias or crushed fingers among the crew. Which was good, because one bit of info the new distance plate doesn’t include is how far it is to the nearest A & E.