(Left to right) Mike Collins, Michael Rae and Paul Morris. Photo taken by Ian Wylie
St Andrew’s Church, Corbridge, has installed mains-powered electric automatic winders for the clock in its church tower.
Until now, the clock has been wound manually two times a week by a team of volunteers.
Last year it was agreed that the clock would be updated, and after receiving generous funding from Corbridge Parish Council, Corbridge W.I., Corbridge Village Trust, the Allchurches Trust, Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust and the Ecclesiastical Trust, the £7,000 mechanism has been installed.
The volunteers, who are the last to manually wind the clock in a time spanning 125 years, are quoted as being: “proud to be a part of history”, happy to partake in such a traditional task.
Prior to having this new mechanism their work, which involved climbing up the tower and using a heavy crank handle to turn three separate winders, provided many safety hazards.