Posts In: Heritage

Terry’s Chocolate Factory Clock Ticks Again After Search For Missing Parts

June 19, 2023 Heritage, News

Landmark clock at the Terry’s chocolate factory in York ticks for the first time since 2005 after search for its missing parts. The Clock at the Grade II-listed Terry’s Chocolate Factory has been dormant for the last 18 years after it stopped in 2005 when work around it fell silent and production of Terry’s chocolate was moved oversees. Abandoned and falling into disrepair, the listed factory was on English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk Register when it was bought by property developer HBD in 2013.  HBD partnered with the PJ Livesey Group and as part of their work together – converting the 1920s factory…

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In for repair: The 1682 Yetminster Parish Clock

May 16, 2023 Church, Heritage, Public

Clockmaker Mitch here talks us through the repair work he’s carried out to the 1682 Clock of St Andrews Church, Yetminster in Dorset.         “It’s been a real challenge this clock, there’s been lots to do on it, but it’s been a great one to work on.”⁠ Mitch describes how:⁠ “The clock was taken out by Paul and Joe and brought into the Works and we’ve carried out a full repair of the clock. ⁠ ⁠ We’ve fitted Sprockets for the new Autowinds to both the Going and the Strike side.⁠ The clock was in a pretty…

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Bamburgh Castle Clock

April 19, 2023 Heritage, Traditional

Bamburgh Castle Dials – Work In Progress⁠ We’ve been enjoying stripping the old paint from this beautiful dial and taking it back to bare copper as part of the restoration  process to the two dials from Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. ⁠ The Bamburgh Castle Clock is a William Potts of Leeds made in 1897. To get it to our Derby Clockworks for a full repair and restoration, our team lowered the clock by hoist through the tower’s trap door to ground level. ⁠ ⁠ We have re-Bushed the Going Side, and stripped, re-pinned and re-bushed all three pulleys. The four…

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AHS Vale of Glamorgan Turret Clock Tour

April 4, 2023 Heritage, Traditional

Antiquarian Horological Society’s Turret Clock Group Tour 24th March 2023 – Vale of Glamorgan Tour “We had a great time on our AHS tour around the Vale of Glamorgan; each site had a unique story to tell and the clocks (some of which we service) were all different and unique. The group who attended were very knowledgeable and provided us with a plethora of tales of their many years of working with clocks of all different types. Chris McKay gave us a wonderful talk regarding his latest book which explained the history and his work on the cage clock at a school…

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Three Years on from Elvaston Castle Clocktower Restoration

February 27, 2023 Heritage, Traditional

The clocktower at Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire houses within it a Smith of Derby clock we made in 1868. As part of the restoration to the clocktower at Elvaston Castle, which we completed three years ago this week, we took the flatbed clock to our Clockworks for a complete overhaul. We also shot-blasted and restored the levers for the bell’s hammer, and removed the dial and the wind vane; repainting, gilding and refitting them to the newly repaired copper structure.⁠ The team at Elvaston Castle were looking for ways to hold on to the integrity of the clock and maintain its…

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Introducing our ‘Heritage Collection’

January 15, 2021 Heritage, News

We begin 2021 with news of an important project which the company began last autumn! We hope to share more with you throughout the coming year. With the help of professional archivist, Jane Middleton-Smith, who has worked on numerous research projects and archive collections, we have begun to categorise our incredible ‘archive’ of records. A database has been developed not only to identify the objects and documents such as photographs and artefacts that make up our company history but also to protect them for the future so we can share as many of them as possible with our team and…

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Master Clock System and Skeleton Dial

November 22, 2018 Heritage, News

Victoria college, St Helier, is the island of Jersey’s oldest state school, dating back to 1853. A prominent feature of the campus is a black and white skeleton clock dial. However, this school boasts more than one clock dial as there are a number of other clocks across the site which are operated by a master clock and slave system. The first task for Smith of Derby was to convert the exterior skeleton dial to a T200 movement, along with fabricating new hands which would fit this movement. This will ensure that the eye-catching dial will keep extremely good time…

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Local clock repair at St Georges Church, Ticknall

October 25, 2018 Church, Heritage, News, Public

We are very proud of the work we undertake and working with local Derbyshire communities will always be special to us because of our history within the local area. These works at Ticknall Village Church were no different, with the church located just 14 miles from our Alfreton Road premises in Derby. Our works at the Church started by removing the original Whitehurst clock and bringing it back to our local Derby workshop for repair. The clock repairs included fitting a new count wheel and pins to the clock which will ensure chiming accuracy on the hour. Along with this,…

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Proud to restore time on Memorial Clock Tower Coalville Leicestershire

October 8, 2018 Church, Heritage, Public, Traditional

A specialist restoration project of the Memorial Clock Tower in Coalville, which included the overhaul of the 4 5ft skeleton dials which occupy the Grade II listed tower on the High Street, Leicestershire. North West Leicestershire District Council approached Smith of Derby, British Clockmaker Tower specialists to inspect the clock and dial works whilst scaffolding was already in place for masonry, steelwork and roofing repairs. The clock tower is an important landmark for the Coalville community and it was an opportune moment to clean and repair the dials. Martin Butchers, Smith of Derby Technical Sales Engineer, carried out the inspection…

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Community Clock Work, Northleach

August 21, 2018 Heritage, News, Public, Seasons, Time, Traditional

We were recently approached to restore the Cotswold Hall’s projecting clock, a timepiece which is a real focal point of the community. The clock, which overlooks the towns West End, was originally installed in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and has a distinctive crown on top of it The clock became abeyant following extremely heavy snowfall in the winter months, which led to further works to being discussed including a dial restoration as the timepiece was in poor condition. This is seen as a significant part of a vital community building which is used by many local groups…

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