Posts In: Traditional

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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Terharris Clock Comes Full Circle 

March 20, 2023 Traditional

Terharris Library Wall Clock Returns to Derby Works for Restoration Currently in the Finishing Room we have the War Memorial Clock for Treharris Library in Treharris, Merthyr Tydfil – a clock we first made and fitted in 1933 – which has come in for repair and restoration, see photos. (3rd photo taken prior to restoration).⁠ ⁠ In the ‘Smith of Derby: A Journey Through Time’ book of the company’s history, an anecdote is written conveying the difficulty of communication at the time in the 1930s, which references the very same Treharris clock.⁠ ⁠ Chapter Five: On The Road⁠ “Remarkably complete…

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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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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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Jubilee Clock Tower Restoration, Weymouth

August 28, 2018 Public, Traditional

As the summer draws to a close and Autumn gets closer, we look back at one of our most famous projects, which will have been seen by an unprecedented number of visitors during this record-breaking summer. The Jubilee Clock Tower, Weymouth. The Jubilee Clock tower is steeped in both history and tradition, standing on the esplanade of Weymouth, at the heart of the Dorset coastline. However, the clock originally stood closer to the beach before the esplanade was expanded and the clock tower was moved further back from the sand to protect it from the many weather fronts. The original…

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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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Clocks in the media

August 6, 2018 Church, Heritage, News, Public, Time, Traditional

The interest in both our clocks and clockmakers has been phenomenal of late, with some of our clockmakers feeling more like celebrities than craftsman! Stories have been run by several local BBC Radio shows, a local newspaper in the Scottish highlands and even a snippet on the local ITV news in Devon.  Whilst on a recent trip to the island of Jersey, clockmaker Paul Kilburn was maintaining clock at the Holy Trinity church when BBC Radio Jersey approached him for an interview. The interview explained Paul’s work at the church, and gave an overview of Smith of Derby. Not long after Paul…

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Automatic Clock-Winding for St Magnus Cathedral, Scotland

July 24, 2018 Church, Heritage, News, Public, Seasons, Time, Traditional

The St Magnus Cathedral clock has been hand wound for the last 100 years, following the installation of the clock in 1919. Smith of Derby were asked to add automatic clock-winding technology, meaning custodians and stonemasons will no longer have to wind this by hand. Originally a James Ritchie timepiece, we were delighted to be asked to carry out the adaptations to the clock at this famous Scottish Cathedral. Along with the automatic winding technology we installed, a pendulum regulator was also added. This ensures the clock will keep the perfect time as the regulator monitors the clock through a built…

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Our latest winding and timekeeping units are now museum pieces!

June 1, 2018 Church, Heritage, Public, Time, Traditional

Automatic winding has been applied to tower clocks for over 100 years. Over that time the equipment has culminated in our current model – the AW10 system. Automatic winding can now be partnered with automatic timekeeping, using our PAR 100 unit. By careful setting of the pendulum speed and programmed pausing, it keeps the clock within precise time year-on-year. Power to both winding and timekeeping are powered via a single power supply control unit with battery backup, with low voltage supply to the working units. This enhances safety and guards against any problem caused by power failures. Winding and timekeeping…

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