Middleton Clocks (time to go home

Time to go Home

By Harold Cunliffe

A message arrived from a contact I have known for many years, Jeremy, who lives in the London area. He and his son have been documenting their roots in this part of Lancashire for a number of years.

Middleton is prominent in their research and the interesting findings may well be put into print. During his research Jeremy found a reference to the “Nowster bell.” He mentioned in his message the fact that this bell was rung at St Leonard’s church each evening at 9.50p.m. for a duration of ten minutes as a consequence of the Luddite riots of 1812, and the attack on Daniel Burton’s mill and the destruction of Parkfield House. He and I wonder what the people of Middleton thought about this bell being rung so long after the event. Another question was the name, why was it called the “Nowster?”.

The sounding of the curfew bell and the name is in fact aimed at those who were out and about, away from home, loitering the streets, then the sound of the bell acted as a reminder that they had to ‘Now Stir’ themselves and make their way home before the curfew of 10.00 p.m. (11 p.m. Saturdays and Mondays) The tradition of ringing this bell carried on for many years, but one wonders if the residents of the town took any notice. I am unable to find any record in the court cases of any person being prosecuted for exceeding the curfew deadline. I have however spoken to people who lived in the town at the time this bell was rung. It transpires that before the Second World War parents of teenagers would instruct them to be home for when the bell was sounded. One lady remembers being out with a young man one warm summer evening, enjoying his company in a park close to the church, then when she heard the bell being rung panic set in and she set off for home in great haste, she commented, “When the bell was sounded you had to go home. Many nights I had to run all the way home, we only had a few minutes to make it or I would be in trouble.” It seems that parents during this period were strict in enforcing that this rule was obeyed by their teenage children.

The ritual of bringing in the New Year, exiting the rear of the house and entering by the front entrance was practiced many years ago by me and other male neighbours. But with the passage of time I found that each year the numbers of my neighbours who would gather each year diminished, until I found that I was the only person carrying on this tradition in my road. I did wonder why I bothered, because each year did not seem to any better than the last. But 50 years ago as we stood chatting on the street corner, holding our lump of coal, it was the sounding of the Parish church bell which brought in the New Year and started the shaking of hands and the exchanging of pleasantries. The sound of the church bell was relied upon by the Middleton radical, Sam Bamford on the day of the Peterloo Massacre. Bamford addressed his marchers and as the clock struck 8 a.m. between 6,000 and 10,000 marchers set off for Manchester. This year the clock at the church celebrates its 215th anniversary.

The Parish church

Drivers shop and the famous ‘Tommy Thompson’s’ chip shop

Edwin Driver accurately setting a watch using the modern electronic device

Clockmakers wife

Each time I happened to be passing through the village of Castleton, on route to Rochdale, not Castleton in the Peak District, I would pay a visit to a dear friend, Jean Driver, a delightful lady of advancing years. Jean, sadly now deceased was the wife of Thomas Edwin Driver, a well-known watch and clock maker and repairer, who also was once the custodian of the clock in the ancient church of St Leonard. The Drivers shop was located on the Manchester Old Road, almost opposite to the British Queen public house which we featured in the November issue. Edwin’s parents lived opposite the church of St Leonard, which was where his father, Tom, a church warden spent hours of his spare time. Jean would relate tales of days gone by living in a Lancashire Mill town upon my visits. She once explained the hours spent cleaning and waxing the pews, cleaning the interior of the church too, apart from the stained glass windows which required the use of a special type of detergent, certainly not washing up liquid to avoid damaging the windows.

At the time Edwin and Jean were married, she said that church goes were strict in following the rules, in the weeks following her marriage she was not allowed out of the house alone until she had been made a member and attended meetings of the Mother’s Union. Her father in law, Tom Driver, was the not only the warden but also a grave digger and any other odd job which required attention.

One hot summer’s day he was involved in the excavation of a grave, when the heat took its toll. He rested at the base of the grave for a period of time then decided to obtain a bottle of water, but as he climbed out of the grave two passing ladies took fright thinking he was a Boggart, and before Tom could explain they both ran away screaming, “Boggart, Boggart.” The local newspaper featured Mr Driver when he spent a considerable amount of time indexing the records. He carried out this project to make it easier for those who were tracing their ancestors who visited the church to seek out family members who had been born, married and buried in the cemetery.

Today most of the records are digital, which makes searching so much easier, but back then Tom used a pen and paper. Mrs Driver related the time that they were responsible for ringing the Nowster bell. It was Tom Driver who was the main person to do this, but there were times when her father in law was not available, so it was left to Jean or Edwin to climb the stone spiral staircase at the church to ring the bell. The last person to ring the bell was Tom Drver. The practice ceased due to the war in 1939, and was abandoned after the war. Jean was a native of London, but when you spoke to her you would think that she had lived in Lancashire all her life, she had a broad Lancashire accent, and looked and spoke similar to Dame Thora Hird. She said of her late husband, Edwin, “He started work at the Post Office, first as a telegraph lad, then he went delivering mail in the Boarshaw area, he hated it, it drove him mad. He spent as much time as possible in his great uncle’s clock repair shop in Old Hall Street (John Tommy Kay) and soon became an accomplished repairer.”

During the Second World War his skill as a clock repairer was used by the R.A.F. based in Scotland he repaired instruments and was quoted as saying the best thing about the war was that it got him out of the Post Office. When on leave his R.A.F. mates would call

Edwin, Ted, because this is what his initials would spell, but his mother objected most strongly, she would correct them, which would cause them to tease her. Edwin’s great uncle’s watch and clock shop was close to the Town Hall. Many councillors would drop into the shop to have a chat before proceeding to the council chamber, many council matters were discussed in the shop. After the war Edwin opened his own shop. Many of the older generation today mention the time that the Driver’s had a clock

Edwin adjusting the clock, going back an hour

Tom Driver transcribing church records

Phil working at his lofty position Painting the numerals

shop opposite the famous “Tommy Thompson’s” chip shop. Our image shows Edwin at his shop in the process of adjusting the settings of a watch via the use of a new machine which could accurately set a watch or clock so it would keep the correct time. His great uncle, John Tommy Kay was once the custodian of the ancient clock at the Parish Church, which was passed to Edwin upon his retirement. The current dedicated custodian is Carl Goldberg.

CLOCK THIS

“Now here is a job which is right up your street,” was the comment from a reporter at the local newspaper who thought that I was the best person to cover the proposed restoration of the clock faces by a specialist. It was around 2006 when finance became available to have the three clock faces repainted at the Parish Church, which is in fact the church of St Leonard’s, known as the church on the hill with a wooden steeple, but is not a pointed steeple. The original comment was accurate; I was interested in the restoration of the clock faces, mainly because they are not easy to access. Reading the letters page of the local newspapers we find that there have been moans and groans about the condition of the clock faces in being in a state of neglect and making it difficult to read the time. Many letters and poems have been published stating that you have to stand under the clock to tell the time because the faces were so dark. When the clock faces were restored all the layers of paint were removed, and one colour was black with white numerals.

At one time public clocks were important in keeping the public informed of the time. At Market Place the Co-op clock was invaluable to the traders, its inception is covered near the end of this feature. The importance of keeping a public clock accurate is in the action of the custodian. At the time the clocks go back and forward in spring, the clock custodian was on hand to perform this operation at the exact time. Our image shows Thomas Edwin Driver running the clock forward eleven hours due to the clocks being put back when British “Summertime” officially ended. At this period in the 1960’s the operation to change the clocks took place at midnight, and it was local photographer Alan Halkyard who recorded the event for posterity, and also allowed many people a glimpse of the clock in the tower of the Parish Church.

During my time working in the park below the church it was the ancient clock which we depended upon to give us the time to have lunch. The clock is powered by heavy weights, so consumes no electricity. One problem with this eco-friendly system is that you must always ensure that the weights do not bottom out, otherwise the clock stops. One resident many years ago gave an instruction to her husband, “that, when the clock at the Parish strikes twice, you must take the cakes

out of the oven.” A few hours later she returned to find her cakes was still in the oven, now looking like a house bricks. She confronted her newspaper reading husband why he did not take the cakes out of the oven, “Because the clock has not, as yet, struck twice.” The angry spouse promptly made her way to the church to find the clock had stopped prior to 2 p.m. Next she called at the Rectory and made a complaint.

TIME ON HIS HANDS.

Philip Irvine who lived in the Southport area was contracted to restore the three clock faces at the church. As soon as we met we found that we were like minded and we

got along famously. He agreed that I could shadow him and record for posterity the work he was about to carry out. You have to be an expert to perform this type of work, and Phil was without doubt a very competent man. If possible Phil would remove the clock faces and restore them at his workshop, but the faces at this church were very heavy slabs of stone.

One of the problems with working on the faces is access. Scaffolding would have been very expensive, so Phil used a bosun’s chair. Once the stone faces were stripped of the old paint he would apply several coats of white paint, the next important task is setting out the circles, or chapter rings. If I had to mark this out it would be via a length of string and a pencil. Phil however had manufactured in his workshop a device which would accurately mark out clock faces, his dial dividing tool would mark out the lines on clock faces of any size. In a way he was like the late Fred Dibnah who also went into great detail, detail in the design of the tool which was of no importance to its action, just there to enhance the appearance of the tool.

The hand crafted device shown in our image was made by Mr Irvine 30 years ago. Robust and of a quality typical of the Victorian period, which no doubt inspired the mind set of these tradesmen. Standing in the clock room Mr Irvine inspected the clock in great detail, he commented, “Clocks like this one have some substance, they were made by craftsmen who took enormous pride in their work and are built to last. During my time I have serviced numerous clocks like the Platt one. When I fully clean, service and polish all the brasses I like to display the movement on a stand inside the church for a month for the congregation to inspect. Very few will have ever seen the movement, yet they no doubt have contributed to its upkeep.” The Middleton clock was made by William Platt of Manchester and is one of only two known to exist. The other is owned by Lord Penhryn and is kept at his castle near Bangor, Wales. Installed on the 15 August 1807, three metal rods connect the three faces of the clock which ensure that they all read the same. The clock keeps remarkably good time and requires very little adjustment.

Searching the archive for information relating to the clock for this feature I found reference to an old battered notebook which was presented to the Middleton Library in 1948. The book contained hand written information relating to the timepiece at the church. My next quest was to find this book, was it still available in the local studies library after all this time? Was it available to read? The only way to find out is to as, so an email was sent to Rochdale Local Studies requesting a search of their archives, then before I had time to gather my thoughts, a reply email arrived giving me details where the booklet was and a file number which would assist in the location of the item in the locked display case. Wasting no time I visited the Central Library where the manager had located the item and had it available at the front desk, so full marks are awarded. I inspected the booklet, which thankfully is a bound photocopy of the original. This preserves the original, and it is the content that is of interest. It began in 1746 being a personal record made by William Broadhurst, which was then carried on by Matthew Halliwell, then under the date of the 15 August 1807, is written, “A new clock has been put up at Middleton Church instead of the old one.” Interestingly the old clock was in a lower position and only had two faces one exterior facing west and one interior.

Phil with his infectious Liverpool accent is one of those rare breed of tradesmen that has an interesting repertoire of tales, great as an after

Above: Using his hand-crafted dial dividing tool Right: Setting the time

Joyce clock at Tonge Church

dinner speaker. Imagine that you have been working against a church tower, it’s a sunny day but you ae working in the shade with a cool wind blowing. At dinner time the best place to sit and consume your food is in the sunshine. This is what Phil and his colleague did some years ago. Then they both heard faint cries for ‘help’ Phil went to investigate. To his horror he discovered that his bosun’s chair had gone, looking up he noticed that a young boy had got in the seat and another boy had pulled the rope sending the frightened youngster upwards. Realising he had no way of getting down the little chap decided to call for help. Placing extra weight on the chair from above brought the boy down to earth. Phil from that moment onward always sends the chair to a place out of reach before having his lunch.

At a church in Liverpool the clock developed a fault, which is not a problem normally, but this happened the day prior to the Service of Remembrance. Philip saved the day by being in the clock tower manually moving the hands of the clock, then operating the striking mechanism at eleven o’clock. The clock at Middleton, like many others is powered via heavy weights. It was when Phil was asked to repair a church clock that a mystery evolved. He could not find any way the clock could work. It had no means of power, no weights were to be found, even though the wooden encasement was present. He and his assistant searched the cellar and found that there was evidence of the movement of soil. They both dug down in the soft earth to find that the rope suspending the weight had broken; sending the weight through the tiled floor inside the casing and into the cellar, upon hitting the ground with such force buried itself. At the time Phil Irvine restored the clock at Middleton a Church building magazine produced a two page feature of him in action. Images which I had captured were used in the feature, which I was more than happy to provide, this is nation wide publicity for our ancient church.

MODERNISED

Some years ago I wrote a newspaper article with the heading, “Oldest Swinger in Town.” Which referred to the pendulum swinging back and forth. Many church clocks have pendulums of length. It was when my brother and I were visiting nurseries in the Fylde area that we spotted the church

warden working in the cemetery at the picturesque church of St Michael on the Wyre. It was a lovely summer’s day so we decided to have a walk round and chat to the warden to gain information about the clock in the tower. We were both greeted with enthusiasm and escorted in to the church. At one end of the nave a semicircle of scratch marks were visible on the wall, in front of the marks was the culprit, it was the bottom part of a pendulum, and to my amazement it was connected to the clock on the floor above, an letter box shaped hole was made in the clock room floor to accommodate the movement of the pendulum. Noticing our keen interest the warden commented, “If you are that interested in the clock, go and have a look.” Then he promptly opened the small access door to the stairs. “I will be in the cemetery if you need me,” he said.

The clock at St Michael’s had been modernised. An electric motor performed the task of lifting the weights. At a certain point the motor would spring into action lifting the weight, then be stopped by a switch once the weight had reached its designated height. The clock at Tonge Church, which is in sight line of the church of St Leonard has also been modernised. Upon my visit I noticed that the clock was made by the famous clockmaker, J.B. Joyce & Co Ltd of Whitchurch, Shropshire in 1929. This firm had supplied many church and turret clocks in Lancashire. For those readers who are fans of the antique programme on BBC 1, “Bargain Hunt” which is broadcast at lunchtime each day, you may spot a turret clock in the background when they film the auction at Trevanion and Dean, auctioneers. It looks like the former clock manufacturing building is now a salesroom, it is listed as ‘The Joyce Building’ in their address. Directly behind Christina Trevanion when she is holding her gavel is a fine example of the clock maker’s art.

NEW PUBLIC CLOCK

I suppose you only realise the convenience of something when it is no longer there. This is the case when Moses Hurst removed his timepiece from outside his shop in 1867. It transpired that the clock was of great use to so many members of the public and its removal proved a great inconvenience. Upon hearing this the clock maker erected a drum clock as a temporary measure. But there was still a need for a greater improvement. The challenge was taken up by the Middleton and Tonge Co-operative Industrial Society, who resolved to erect a large new clock over their central stores, opposite the towns market which it was stated would be of a great convenience to the town generally. It would also be of great use at night because the clock was to have a transparent face which would be illuminated each night by a jet of gas. It was hoped that the clock would be in full working order for New Year’s Eve, 1867.

The Albion newspaper published this report on the 28 December 1867 which read. “The new public clock in front of the Central Store of the Middleton and Tonge Industrial Society in Long St, is now in full working order. The clock is nine feet in circumference, and it has a transparent disc that the interior can be illuminated at dusk. We feel sure the public will be greatly indebted to the society for its liberality in providing a timepiece like the one just erected, which is at once an ornament to the town.” It was once thought that the clock was made by Smiths of Derby, but we now find that it was crafted by Mr Edward Scales, clockmaker of Cathedral Yard, Manchester. Total cost of the clock and its erection was a little over £25.

Having the new clock fitted was easy, but finding someone to look after it was not. We find that the clock did not perform as well as expected due to the lack of volunteers to service the needs that a clock of this periodrequired, which is daily. Searching the classified column of the newspapers in the weeks following the installation of the new clock we find. “WANTED, Immediately, by the public of Middleton, someone to look well after the Industrial Society’s CLOCK, in Long street. The duties will be to see that the works are properly wound up, and the person appointed will also be held responsible for the gas-jet behind the dial being lit up regularly at dusk. All applications to be sent, WITHOUT DELAY, to the Stumps, Market Place, so that no more inconvenience may arise. For many years John Tommy Kay was once the custodian of the clock. His Old Hall Street shop once sported a large pocket watch type of timepiece.

GREAT CLOCK

On New Year’s Day 1879 many thousands of people turned out to hear the carillons of the great new clock at Manchester Town Hall which were started at noon. It was reported that the clock was the greatest work of the kind in the world. The large bell which upon the hours are struck had a total weight of six tons, nine hundredweight. As for the other bells which could produce a chromatic scale of 21, could reach a pitch of half a note of two octaves.

Co-op Hall and new clock at Market Place