Clock restoration becomes symbol of town regeneration
When Peter Landi became Chairman of The Ramsgate Society he was determined to put right something that had been troubling him for some time, the empty drum that formerly contained Gwyn's Clock. Peter said: 'That empty drum came to represent in my mind the dilapidated state of parts of our Town Centre and now that improvements were being made it was totally inappropriate.' 'I started to make enquiries about possible ways to have it replaced. Straight away I was told that I was wasting my time and that several people before me had tried and failed. My first priority was to contact Miles Barr, who now owned the property on which the clock (or rather the remains of it) was hanging and ask them how they felt about it. Stuart Barr, a former Chatham House boy - as I am, was supportive but asked if I had any idea of the cost. So that was my starting point! I first had to get access to the existing workings located high up in the tower. It was dusty and full of pigeon droppings but the workings were intact although rather rusty. These workings were for an eight day clock which meant it would have to be wound every week and the difficulty of access meant that this was not feasible, even if the working parts could be restored. I therefore decided to replace the clock with an electric replica as near the original as possible. Good Directions of Southampton were recommended and I asked them for a price. There were various sizes and other options to be considered but a rough figure of £5000 was mentioned. There was also the cost of removing the existing drum, re-fixing the new one and making the necessary electrical connections at an additional cost of around £3000. Miles Barr agreed to contribute half the cost of the new clock. Darren Ellis of D.J. Ellis (Construction) Ltd (an Old Boy of St George's School) agreed to take the existing drum down and assist with the installation which saved us a considerable sum. Once the existing drum was removed it was found to be not a standard size and a special case had to be made. With the money saved by the free assistance given by Darren Ellis I was able to have additional features incorporated into the clock. We had gilding on the dials, internal illumination of the faces both day and night and the connection to the time signal from Rugby which meant that the clock would always be correct and would go forward and back each time British Summer Time changed. This increased the price of the clock to £6600 including VAT and the final installation. Thanet District Council agreed that Gwyn's Clock could be added to the list of clocks maintained by their contractor, annually. It took two years to obtain the rest of the funding needed and to complete the project. My thanks to Miles Barr, D.J. Ellis (Construction) Ltd, The Charter Trustees of Ramsgate, Manston Airport Consultation Committee, The Ramsgate Society, KCC Councillors John Kirby and Alan Poole and to the clockmakers "Good Directions" of Southampton for their advice on technical matters. My thanks also to those who told me I was wasting my time and would never succeed - it just made me try harder!'