The team here at the Derby Works have recently completed the restoration of the Thwaites & Reed Clock belonging to Turvey Abbey Monastery.
Martin Butchers, our Sales and Complex Projects Manager describes how, ‘the arbors were out of alignment, so the teeth didn’t mesh properly on the wheels, which kept stopping the clock. The solution was to completely strip the clock, make new bushes, polish the pivots and rebuild the clock and ensure that all the wheels and teeth were in perfect alignment.”
Martin continues: “The painting of the cage of the clock was requested by Sister Benedict as there was very little paint on the framework. So we did an analysis and researched it historically in order that we could get exactly the correct colour for the frame. It was a rather odd colour as well, but it was exactly the colour of that era. Sometimes Thwaites & Reed did them in green, sometimes they did them in blue, but they often did them in a slightly different blue, but when we did the analysis it came out previously as being this blue that you see here. So that’s what we went for. But what we did do, is we ran it past Sister Benedict first to ensure she was happy with that colour before we painted it.”