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1 O'clock Hooter


Stuart0742

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I don't know if this has been covered before, but what is the historical significance of the 1 0'clock hooter at the top of Fargate.

The hooter is on what is now HL Browns, but it used to be Wilson Pecks.

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I don't know if this has been covered before, but what is the historical significance of the 1 0'clock hooter at the top of Fargate.

The hooter is on what is now HL Browns, but it used to be Wilson Pecks.

Can I quote you on that Stuart0742?

On the Wilson Peck thread I have put a picture of this building as it was circa 1973 - 4 and stated that the hooter is on the Wilson Peck building as you have stated here.

However, Tsavo, who is never knowingly wrong, says that at this time the hooter was on H.L. Brown's building which was on the other side of Leopold Street in 1973. So who is right?

Has the hooter always been on this building regardless of which business was based there?

Was the hooter moved from H.L. Brown's old premises to the old Wilson Peck building when they moved?

Finally I seem to remember that originally this "hooter", always to my memory on the Wilson Peck building, was originally a "siren" looking like an old air raid siren, although clearly today it is not, it is just a hooter.

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Guest plain talker

The time signal was definitely on the opposite side of the road, on the old HL Brown's building, up until Brown's corner was demolished to build Orchard Square.

Both back when I was young, and today, the sound is like an air-raid siren.

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Don't know Dave. The siren I remember was shaped a bit like the one's you see on old submarines but it produced a different tone. I know it was transferred to the old Wilson Peck building, but am fairly certain it was well after 1974. There's a picture around somewhere but I just can't remember where I've seen it. Will keep looking.

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Is this not the item in question then? If not what is it?

Don't know what it is Dave, but it's not the time signal. This pic from pre 1987, before it was replaced by the Orchard Sq. Precinct, shows the hooter and the little plaque that was with it. First window on the top floor Leopold Street.

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Don't know what it is Dave, but it's not the time signal. This pic from pre 1987, before it was replaced by the Orchard Sq. Precinct, shows the hooter and the little plaque that was with it. First window on the top floor Leopold Street.

Been into town this afternoon to visit the continental market on Fargate so thought I would take my camera and investigate.

The one in Tsavo's picture of H.L. Browns pre 1987 is definately the same one which is now on the new H.L. Browns building, the old Wilson Peck, even complete with its little plaque, see photos below. I was actually there at 1 o'clock and can confirm that it does still work.

However, the alarm I remember on this building (Wilson Pecks) did not originally look like this, it was more akin to a double sided air raid warning siren. Can anyone else remember this? If so, what happened to it?

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Nice pic's, Dave, but as usual we answer one question and immediately find another. Now, was it an automatic sounder, or did someone just push a button at the appropriate hour?

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Nice pic's, Dave, but as usual we answer one question and immediately find another. Now, was it an automatic sounder, or did someone just push a button at the appropriate hour?

I don't know, but with that window open there you could have just reached out and pressed a switch on the side of it. I think I would have shut the window, it was freezing in town today.

Notice that the wire from it seems to go into the ground floor below. as H.L. Brown's is a jewelers perhaps it doubles as a burglar alarm.

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I don't know, but with that window open there you could have just reached out and pressed a switch on the side of it. I think I would have shut the window, it was freezing in town today.

Notice that the wire from it seems to go into the ground floor below. as H.L. Brown's is a jewelers perhaps it doubles as a burglar alarm.

I think we have established where it is, it does sound every day at 1:00pm Why?

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The 1pm siren was always a feature of HL Brown's, who sold clocks and timepieces, for as long as I can remember and I am well into my 70s. The siren moved when HL Brown's moved. Why did we have a siren? I have no idea but as a standard for setting time pieces it seems a likely reason. Less sure about a call back to work signal, since not everyone had the same sort of times for meal breaks.

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