St. Mary’s Quarter Chimes

Wed 15 May, 11:15

Without knowing much about anything, nevertheless I have some observations:

1. It sounds a perfect project to enhance the standing of some apprenticeship organisation, if such things still exist. As a student of Leyland Motors in Lancashire back in the 1970's, I studied alongside the Leyland Motors apprentices, who were trained exceptionally well. If that scheme existed today I am sure it would be well-placed to manufacture a new cogwheel for the clock as a project for the apprenticeships.

2. There is a lot of high technology in this area. Formula One teams, also the Colin Sanders Centre (a former boss of mine - may he rest in peace) in Banbury, and many others. I realise that it is not going to be simply a case of a benevolent laser cutter owner and a lump of iron ... but you get my drift.

Thoughts?

Wed 15 May, 10:04

The situation with the quarter chimes has been problematic for a while now.  First they started missing out notes, then they began stalling halfway through - there wasn't enough energy to lift the hammer to chime the bell.  Then the clock stopped.  Examination showed it was halfway through striking a quarter but had stalled again and it was thought this had then stopped the clock.  This happened twice, so we de-activated the quarter chimes to at least ensure the clock comtinued. This is the state ot the moments.  

We are fortunate to have a tower clock specialist in the town who has recently examined the mechanism.  His opinion is that one of the cogged wheels is badly worn and needs refurbishing. What should be sqaure teeth look more like pyramids!  We are exploring ways to get this repaired.  It is one of the largest toothed wheels in the clock and is likely to be expensive.  

Some of you may remember that we had an overhaul of the clock several years ago when other wheels and worn items were replaced.  At the time the chimes were working fine so the repair of the problem wheel was not considered necessary - especially as it would have added considerably to the cost. 

We continue to seek solutions, but we are in the hands of finding a specialist in this work who are few and far between.

Wed 15 May, 08:47

Perhaps it was someone living next to the church complaining!?

Wed 15 May, 06:46

John, I miss them too, especially in the night if I can’t sleep. Does anyone from church know the reason why they don’t chime nowadays?

Mon 13 May, 21:36

Seem to be silent again…

Fri 3 Mar 2023, 16:55

I'm replying to my own post as it's dropped so far down the Main Board list and this ought to bring it back up to the top for a bit 😀

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 15:21

These have been silent for a while - have I missed a post on the Forum about this I wonder?