Photos by George Ledger – Consett in Focus
Christ Church’s Tower Clock was installed by Richard Murray as a memorial to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1898. The clock was built by ‘Potts Clockmakers of Leeds’ and was maintained and serviced by them for many years before they were taken over by Smith of Derby who continued to service the clock.
A few years ago however the clock stopped, its hands frozen at 12 O’clock and its bells no longer chimed. But thanks to the efforts of the Christ Church family and the wider community the funds were raised by generous donations, coffee mornings, concerts, and two successful beer festivals organised by The Grey Horse. The clock mechanism was removed for repair and restoration in the workshops of Smith’s of Derby.
Monday 10th June saw the rebuilding of the clock start, it took four days. Master clockmakers Mike Tomlinson and Kevin Ireland undertook the task of on-site reassembly, renewing all counterweights, pulleys, and strings and they integrated a state-of-the-art automatic winding system, ensuring the clock maintained precise timekeeping and regulated the hourly rings and chimes of the bells.
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