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Mystery Clock


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ANOTHER MYSTERY CLOCK

Where in Sheffield, within the City and not close enough to a pub for my liking, is this mystery clock?

Stuart0742 is barred from entering as he already knows the answer, but I have included a little extra clue for skeets

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ANOTHER MYSTERY CLOCK

Where in Sheffield, within the City and not close enough to a pub for my liking, is this mystery clock?

Stuart0742 is barred from entering as he already knows the answer, but I have included a little extra clue for skeets

I was going to say Division Street - The Clock and Parrot,

But that's a pub and you say it's not near a pub - so ---

My guess.

Botanical Gardens before they got rid of the bird house?

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I was going to say Division Street - The Clock and Parrot,

But that's a pub and you say it's not near a pub - so ---

My guess.

Botanical Gardens before they got rid of the bird house?

Not even close vox lol

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Guest skeets

ANOTHER MYSTERY CLOCK

Where in Sheffield, within the City and not close enough to a pub for my liking, is this mystery clock?

Stuart0742 is barred from entering as he already knows the answer, but I have included a little extra clue for skeets

H DaveH its your clock, and the print on the picture is a shot of old Mother Riley

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H DaveH its your clock, and the print on the picture is a shot of old Mother Riley

Correct skeets!

The clock is in our back living room at home.

The extra clue was one of our lovebirds who had decided to use it as a perch while having a fly around, - I knew that you knew we kept lovebirds.

The print in the background, actually a raised relief impression, is not Old Mother Riley (wasn't she a man anyway?) but is a done from a dutch print of a street organ being taken through the streets of Amsterdam. Mechanical musical instruments, fairground organs and player pianos, are another technical and historical interest of mine.

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By the look of the quality.................................Poundland!

Don't know where it came from Markbaby, - I "inherited" it when my aunt Nora died about 9 years ago. It has worked well and kept good time ever since. I quite liked the clock due to its relatively large, clear dial, which helps in a dimmly lit room at night when my eyesight is not as good as it used to be.

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Don't know where it came from Markbaby, - I "inherited" it when my aunt Nora died about 9 years ago. It has worked well and kept good time ever since. I quite liked the clock due to its relatively large, clear dial, which helps in a dimmly lit room at night when my eyesight is not as good as it used to be.

Whats wrong with Poundland, you can get some good things, I actually use the 99p shop, save a penny on each item. lol

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Whats wrong with Poundland, you can get some good things, I actually use the 99p shop, save a penny on each item. lol

The Euro shops in France used to be even cheaper, but with the current exchange rate I'm not so sure.

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Don't know where it came from Markbaby, - I "inherited" it when my aunt Nora died about 9 years ago. It has worked well and kept good time ever since. I quite liked the clock due to its relatively large, clear dial, which helps in a dimmly lit room at night when my eyesight is not as good as it used to be.

Sorry Dave, I wasn't referring to your clock but the original dodgy clock. (This thread meanders on)

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Sorry Dave, I wasn't referring to your clock but the original dodgy clock. (This thread meanders on)

OK Markbaby,

ANOTHER MYSTERY, DODGY, CLOCK (No.3 in this thread)

QUESTION 1

Where in Sheffield is this clock?

QUESTION 2

What is "dodgy" about it?

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OK Markbaby,

ANOTHER MYSTERY, DODGY, CLOCK (No.3 in this thread)

QUESTION 1

Where in Sheffield is this clock?

QUESTION 2

What is "dodgy" about it?

8 hrs 25 mins slow lol

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8 hrs 25 mins slow lol

Seriously though, as we seem to loosing the plot here, if there ever was a plot :)

Would it be St Mary's church clock?

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Seriously though, as we seem to loosing the plot here, if there ever was a plot :)

Would it be St Mary's church clock?

I know I should have barred you from this one as you could be in a position to know BOTH answers.

QUESTION 1

Where in Sheffield is this clock?

Correct answer goes to Stuart, - it is indeed St. Marys Church Clock.

Now, Question 2

Unlike skeets original question its "dodgyness" has nothing to do with the appearance of the dial this time as vox is suggesting.

The answer to this may be limited to myself, Norfolk School technician Peter Harrison, a young man called Wayne Beckett and just a handfull of other Norfolk School graduates, possibly including Stuart0742.

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Seriously though, as we seem to loosing the plot here, if there ever was a plot :)

Would it be St Mary's church clock?

Sorry, I missed out the "proof" of Stuarts correct answer.

Question 2 is still open to suggestions, I don't know if Stuart knows this one so he is NOT barred from trying.

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Am I on the right lines with this?

I tink you have won this one Dave, nobody will get it

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I tink you have won this one Dave, nobody will get it

So it's not because it's run by the dodgy Meccano motor then?

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So it's not because it's run by the dodgy Meccano motor then?

Stuart thinks that NOBODY will get it but VOX IS ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON!!!!!

By the early 1970's the church clock was not working due to lack of maintenance and care.

Our school technician at Norfolk, Peter Harrison, was offered the job of "repairing" it after doing a similar job himself on Worksop Priory Clock in 1971.

Pete thought that the St. Marys church clock would make a nice little "school project" for selected students and he arranged this with the headmaster. This is where I got involved along with Wayne Beckett (who later adopted this project as his own) and a succession of fourth year lads (Y10) who did a week each working with the technician. Obviously it didn't involve Stuart0742 or he would have known the answer, - shouldn't have been so hasty to leave after our exams Stuart.

The clock mechanism, the escapement, gearing and drive was fairly straightforward to bring back up to working standard, but the drive mechanism wasn't due to its position, - a set of weights which descended down the church tower under gravity which then had to be wound back up to the top by hand. A bit like a giant Bavarian wall clock (cuckoo clock). As the weights and drive were going to take a lot of repairing Pete came up with the idea of using a small electric motor as a temporary measure.

He came up with what looked really dodgy, an infeasably small low powered motor to drive that giant of a clock. I think originally it was a MECCANO MOTOR, the 6v yellow and red plastic one with adjustable gearing but this was later replaced with an a 240v mains AC shaded pole induction motor, probably scrounged from under the turntable of an old Garrard SP25 record player deck, as this held its speed more accurately. This system only worked for 3 reasons, -

1

The high speed of the motor required a lot of gearing down, as speed was reduced torque was increased to the extent that it could turn that massive clock.

2

The clock hands had counterbalances inside the tower, this was to stop the clock going too fast between 12 and 6 when it was assisted by gravity, and then too slow between 6 and 12 when it had to work against it. As a result the amount of force required to turn the clock was remarkably small.

3

Only a man with Pete Harrison's mechanical and engineering aptitude would know how to successfully connect a motor of this size to the large, Victorian gearing of the clock.

The motor worked, on and off, to a greater or lesser degree of accuracy for several years. By this time Pete had moved on, the kids who helped had left school and moved on so only Wayne Beckett remained. He could not keep the clock going by himself so once again it eventuallystopped working altogether.

Finally a team of engineers from the University of Sheffield department of engineering were called in to reinstate the working condition of the clock for the second time, - this time using the proper drive mechanism, and it has worked ever since. I always look at the clock every time I go past it (usually every Saturday morning on a shopping trip) to check it is still running and telling the correct time. It invariably is, - at which point I am always reminded of our little "project" with it in the early 1970's.

Well done to VOX for coming up with the correct answer to my question which Stuart though would be impossible.

(Be interesting to know how you knew the answer Vox, - did you know of this school project?)

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Am I on the right lines with this?

Nice clock Vox,

did you build it?

does it keep good time?

Never owned enough Meccanno to build the clock myself but would have loved to have had a go.

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Nice clock Vox,

did you build it?

does it keep good time?

Never owned enough Meccanno to build the clock myself but would have loved to have had a go.

Stand Corrected lol

But who told VOX, is he Wayne Becket :)

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Who's Wayne Beckett and did happen to live on Granville Rd at one time Dave ?

....is this the same Wayne Beckett who worked at the concert room bar at Manor club , early 80's ?? and lived just off Granville Rd ??? :unsure:

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