Page 34 - Phonebox Magazine July 2011

Bellringing in Olney Parish Church
This MonTh The main topic is the church clock so i have handed over to David Phillipson, newly returned from australia, who was the project manager on the major Bell renovation and refurbishment project in 2008/9 because he has expert knowledge on the clock.
legged’ type by Grimthorpe which is the same as the escapement installed in the clock of the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben. The main photograph shows the clock with the main clock drive to the left with the escapement and pendulum suspended from the bridge, and the drive for the quarter chimes to the right.
The clock frame has various cast lettering on the front including ‘Turret clock number 379’ and the date of 1887. The main flat bed frame is supported from the tower walls by three very substantial cast brackets and the lengthy and heavy pendulum is hung from the centre of the movement by a bridge that carries the escapement and the gravity arms. in 1994 the mechanism was fitted with three electric automatic winding units, one for each train, called huygens continuous chain drives. The original dial, probably of cast iron, has been replaced by an accurate fibreglass replica.
The form of electrification is interesting as the drives do not intrude on the mechanism itself but lift the weights once they reach a certain low point; it is the weights that still drive the three trains. in comparison the photograph below is also of a Leeson clock dated 1877 and is in the church of st Peter’s, harborne in Birmingham. This clock has also been electrified by smith’s of Derby in 1973 but on this occasion the electrification is totally intrusive as there is only the bed of the original clock remaining. The Grimthorpe escapement, the pendulum and all the Victorian mechanics which make these clocks so special have been ripped out and replaced by blue electric motors which directly drive the clock dials, the hour strike and the quarters; this is not electrification it is butchery of the highest order and would not be tolerated by the heritage custodians of today and our much changed views about conservation in general. The sad photograph of the Leeson clock at harborne shows the
blue electrical motors and the original Leeson bridge from which the escapement and pendulum once hung for four years short of 100 years.
David Phillipson
Olney Clock
The clock was installed in 1888 to commemorate the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria the previous year; the clock is dated 1887. it replaced an earlier machine which had been damaged by a storm in 1884. The clock is fitted with Westminster chimes and an hour strike. The chimes were fitted under a bequest by Thomas eyles who in 1903 also provided the two treble bells. The clock appears to have been made originally to perform the strike and chime operations so presumably they were just waiting for a benefactor.
The mechanism is a superb and important three train tower clock; the trains are the separate drives for the clock itself, the hour strike and quarter chimes. it was made by William Leeson of coleshill in Birmingham and is of impressively substantial proportions, the flat steel bed on which all of the mechanics sit being over 10 feet in length. it has an escapement which is a ‘double three
Harborne Clock
July Ringing News
on saturday, 2nd July a group of young ringers will visit olney, tower as the last stop of their day’s ringing outing and ring from around 4.45 pm. This trip is becoming a tradition each summer and, like last year, they will then go on to the vicarage for a barbeque. We hope they enjoy their day and are blessed with good weather as they plan to walk or cycle between some of the churches as well as having the BBQ, which is always more enjoyable outside.
on 15th July from 2 to 3 p.m. a group calling themselves “Blast from the Past” are planning to ring the olney Bells as part of their annual reunion meeting. They tell me they learnt and rang together many years ago and are still ringing although now they are dispersed around the Uk.
Helen Dilley
Olney Town Cricket Club
The crickeT season is now in full swing and, with the weather being so good so far, both adult and junior teams have got off to a busy start with their matches. results for our adult teams have been mixed, with the 1st Xi getting off to a flier with two wins following their promotion to Division 1. They’ve since found it a little harder in more recent matches, so are mid-table in the League. Good results for the 2nd Xi have, so far, been hard to come by although there have been a couple of wins. however, this season we’ve had to call on a number of younger players to come into the team and this has resulted in a number of stand-out performances for the 2nd Xi by our juniors.
With promotion secured last year into a much better grade of cricket our sunday League team has found the start of the season hard graft. With one or two players returning from university imminently though, we look forward to improving in the second half of the year. our new sunday Development side, which mixes adults and juniors, has also started its season off.
We have some good competitive and social cricket coming up in the next few weeks. on sunday 3rd July, we will be staging our annual President’s Day. There will be a full day of cricket, with our juniors
playing in the morning and a mix of juniors and seniors in the afternoon. in the afternoon three teams from mixed age groups will play something similar to “20:20” matches. on Friday 22nd July we will be playing host to our sponsors at our annual sponsor’s evening. We’re looking forward to arranging a club vs sponsors match and to providing wine and food as a big thank you for all the financial support our sponsors provide to the club.
on Friday 29th July the club will also be taking the opportunity to celebrate the life and times of Mike Lord, one of our great personalities that we lost earlier in the year. From 7pm we will pay our tribute to Mike and reflect on his remarkable contribution to the club’s health and well-being. all club members, friends and family of Mike are warmly welcomed. We will also take a brief opportunity during the evening to make a formal dedication to Mike.
if you want to follow the club’s progress on and off the field it’s now very easy. We have created a club Facebook site and you can find this and results posted on it, as well as news of events – just go to www.facebook.com/olneytowncc.
34 Phonebox Magazine