The chimes of time - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

Just as Toronto has the iconic CN Tower to identify its cityscape, so too does Wingham with the stately twin sentinels that guard its main street. Quite visible from the southern approach to town are the bell tower of the Town Hall and the clock tower of the old post office.

 

Until 1861, the earliest settlers had to travel west to Zetland to receive their mail. At that time, Wingham’s first postmaster, Edward Farley, located a post office in his store. 

 

For the next almost half century, the post office’s location moved around in Lower Town and in Wingham until 1904, when the Dominion Government paid $30,800 to have a red brick two-storey building, with an offset tower, erected at 273 Josephine Street. The structure was completed in 1907 with postmaster, Peter Fisher and his family living on the top floor. However, the building just didn’t seem to be complete until a clock could be installed in the tower that was located on the south of the main building. 

 

Dr. Chisholm, the Member of Parliament for East Huron, secured a clock from the W. F. Evans and Sons Soho Clock Company in Birmingham, England. When the clock arrived, it was found that the tower needed to be higher than it was and H. J. Deyell was commissioned to rebuild the tower several feet taller. This was accomplished by removing the top of the tower and placing it on the flat part of the building’s roof. The tower was then built up enough in height to accommodate the new clock. After the top of the tower was replaced, local jeweller, A. M. Knox, installed it in 1914. 

 

The clock consists of a working mechanism that is housed in a frame in the centre of the top floor of the tower. This mechanism is powered by gravity. There are two cables attached to the central working system and on each cable is a weight. The running weight, that of 150 pounds, powers the time sequence and the striking weight of 350 pounds controls the 25-pound gong, which strikes the 800-pound brass, copper and zinc bell which is housed one floor below the controls. 

 

Each second of the day is marked by visible movement of the working mechanism. To make the clock run and keep time, the cables for the weights must be wound up weekly. It takes 20 minutes a week just to wind the cables back up. The movement of the clock is regulated by a 50-pound pendulum. Then, as the clock mechanism ticks away and the hourly chime sounds, the weights gradually descend once again in their shafts, located in the corners of the tower. Slim rods extend from the central workings of the clock to each dial face to move the hands, thus telling the time. These faces are five feet, six inches (165 centimetres) in diameter and the hands are likewise large with the hour hands being two feet long (60 centimetres) and the minute hands measuring two feet, eight inches (80 centimetres) in length.

 

Through the years, many volunteers have climbed two flights of stairs and two ladders to access the unlit, unheated tower. The Jan. 17, 1979 edition of the Wingham Advance-Times highlights the efforts of volunteer Doug Foxton and town employee, Gordon Carter, to maintain the clock. Because 1979 was Wingham’s Centennial year, extra effort was made to have the clock once again chiming out the hours and keeping track of the time after a period of inactivity. 

 

Again, in 2001, when North Huron was amalgamated from the municipalities of Blyth, East Wawanosh and Wingham, council members thought it would be fitting to have the clock running once again to mark the occasion. In 2002, Doug Conley, a local member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, was approached to take on the task, one that he diligently undertook for over 20 years. During that time, he crafted replacement parts for worn or damaged ones and solved the problem of the striking cable needing 45 feet of drop to run for a week by installing a pulley in the 30 feet available, thus extending the time needed to rewinding the cable from four days to a week, matching the winding time of the running cable.

 

As can be imagined, parts for a clock of its era are difficult to find. Because the town clock in Listowel is the same model as the one in Wingham, it has been handy at times to compare the two to figure out how to make a new part for one that has become worn or broken.  

 

Over time, there have been problems with the clock that have silenced it. One such incident involved the striking weight plunging down to the bottom of its tower causing the crank handle to fly off, narrowly missing a volunteer and then breaking through the north face dial. Another problem was that vandals threw snowballs through the Josephine Street side dial, causing it to break. On another occasion,  high winds blew out a clock face. The dial face covers have since been replaced by two sheets of plexiglass ingeniously fitted to once again protect the clock and its working parts.

 

The clock marks the hours, day and night, by striking the appropriate number of chimes in a way that has been described as a melodious addition to Wingham’s downtown.

 

Much appreciation to Doug Conley for information on the town clock.