A family from Canada paid a special visit to Victoria Tower in August 2014 and were shown round by Julian Brown, the Castle Hill warden. Trena Hollands is a great granddaughter of Charles T Clough and visited with her husband, Ken and their daughter, Violet, to see his memorial which was placed on the top of Victoria Tower by his daughter. The brass memorial plate is in the form of a directional dial showing distances from Castle Hill to local viewpoints. The memorial plate also records the height of the tower at 990 feet.
Charles Clough was born and brought up in Huddersfield and became a very well-respected geologist. His father was a solicitor and town clerk in Huddersfield and his son received a good education, gaining a degree in natural sciences from Cambridge in 1874. When Charles was 23 in 1875 he joined the British Geological Survey, working for most of his life in the north Pennines and in Scotland. He surveyed the Highlands of Scotland, deciphering some of the geological problems in very ancient rocks and was recognised as a superb field geologist. His death at 64 followed an unfortunate accident. Clough was surveying rocks in a narrow railway cutting and did not hear an approaching train because of his slight deafness.
The family travelled on to Edinburgh where they met members of the British Geological Survey and the Edinburgh Geological Society. Charles Clough’s field note books and other memorabilia were displayed to show the importance of his geological research. His widow donated £1000 in 1934 to the Edinburgh Geological Society to provide a medal which is awarded annually to promote the study of the geology of Scotland and the north of England.
Following on from the visit, the Huddersfield Examiner carried an article about the visit and C. T. Clough.