Christie Memorial Clock, Stirling. Dismantling!

The Christie Memorial Clock is in memory of former Stirling provost, George Christie. It was built in 1906. On inspection of the structure it was found that the crown of the clock was insecure, and in an unstable and dangerous condition. It was decided to dismantle the structure, and later rebuild. Unfortunately the dismantling was more like a demolition!

[@Scotdrone]

Brutal. Well done on filming this and documenting it. Unbelievable treatment of an iconic monument.

[@alexcraig-sp3db]

have you played a bizarre day?

[@michaelkane3208]

Well done on getting the footage. I'd not have believed that if someone had told me that's what happened to it.

[@carolhansen5419]

That was heartbreaking to watch. I may not live in Stirling any more but I loved seeing the clock every time I visited. Glad I got to see it in May. What a disgraceful way to "take it apart." !!!!

[@garethjones1018]

Fantastic the way they even made the scaffolding utterly unusable again, an absolute shitshow from start to finish!

[@gameratortylerstein5636]

Ahh just bend the bars straight and it'll work another time.

[@fannycraddock99]

I can't believe what I have just watched! Total wanton destruction of a much loved monument which I have passed nearly every day for over 16 years! I don't suppose that I will ever see it again in my lifetime! The clock should have been carefully wrapped in heavy duty builders fabric and secured with straps. That way in the event of it crumbling all the pieces would have been contained. Instead the machinery used was completely wrong for this job and it appeared that the machine operator must have been a trainee as no professional would have done this. It was demolished and someone needs to be held accountable for this. Instead of wasting more money on bike lanes, speed bumps, the mess at the station and roads that people don't want the council have a duty to the Christie family and citizens of Stirling to have the clock restored and reinstated. I have written to my MP about this.

[@user-np6gx2bb8q]

This is corporate vandalism, a complete disaster allowed and sanctioned by idiots. There should be a full public enquiry into this fiasco and council personnel held accountable. This was never a planned de olition gone wrong, it was a planned act of destruction. Local MPs should be investigating the reasons behind this atrocity and name the individuals who made the decision to bring in a wrecking crew. Stirling cannot afford to destroy the town.

[@adz5OOO]

Can't believe what I've just seen! Was the intention always to demolish the clock and the supporting scaffold? Seems bizarre!

[@jackiewatson210]

Stirling Council should be ashamed of themselves

[@dg76]

How on earth did they think that was ever going to work in the first place? Then the driver just went absolutely nuts. Absolutely heartbreaking to see this landmark destroyed.

[@davidstevenson6990]

The intention was never to refurbish. Demolition of an historic site. I cannot understand. Why?? Destroyed their own scaffold too!

[@petergrant7493]

I have literally never seen such insane duckwittery in my entire life. How, between all the individuals operating the machinery and standing around watching, were every single one of them so brain dead as to think this was a satisfactory and professional way to go about dismantling a monument? Totally unsuitable equipment for a start, then when they realised the situation was out of hand, they thought their best option was to mangle the whole lot to the ground as if they were working in a scrapyard!!!

[@TheReduxGB]

Chances are the machine operator probably voiced it was a terrible way to do it but was just told to get on with it, and here we are.

[@gavc6442]

I actually cannot believe what I’m seeing!!

[@kevocos]

Even if this was planned as demolition is must be one of the most incompetently executed demolition jobs ever to occur. I wouldn't ask that demolition firm to colipase an empty cornflakes box.

[@bobclydesdale8701]

Am not an expert but looks like it was done on the cheap and al bet the machine operator told all the guys above his pay grade this is nuts.

[@hazelscobbie8290]

Stirling clowncil at its best!

[@ABC_DEF]

The monument is Category C listed, which means it is protected by law. This demolition is illegal.

[@scotlandshistory]

It really is shocking what's happened.

[@mikemarwick7987]

Absolutely unbelievable

[@GuzziIan]

Removed for restoration - what a joke. That's demolition. They'll probably end up sticking up a bent piece of angle iron painted pink and calling it "art" to replace it.

[@simonjones7727]

It is "restoration" in the way that the RAF "restored" Dresden in WWII.

[@GuzziIan]

I've been there. They're still working on it!

[@simonjones7727]

I suppose there are some quite nice plants and shrubs still around what's left. Perhaps they could pull those up too? Or how about a bit of council sponsored graffiti to add to the total skankification of the place?

[@HunterShows]

@@GuzziIan One works on that as one works on a time machine.

[@elizabethyoung1678]

Hope the people who voted these people on to council have watched this wanton destruction and taken note.

[@TheunfamousflyCoUk]

What an utter c*ck end. I have seen some incompetent excavator drivers in my time ( pretty much every one that worked on the Allanwater development at Cambusbarron was useless as well) but that takes things to a whole new level of f*ck-wittery. Had he never been in an excavator before? I am guessing not. How anyone from the council could stand there and let that continue after the first few seconds of lifting the top off defies belief....oh wait, do they also supervise the road repairs made around here? In that case maybe I could believe it. If you hadn't videoed it Barry I don't think I would have believed it! Well done for documenting a whole new level of incompetence even for Stirling Council. Why did anyone think a grab was the suitable way to lift the clock off it's mount? Surely it could have been stropped and physically lifted off in one piece. Even if the column had taken a bit of damage that's easily replicated but the clock is largely irreplaceable. Bet the scaffolding contractors were impressed as well.... not.

[@simonjones7727]

Absolutely f***ing unbelievable.

[@GreenwitchNorthBirstall]

Fred Dibner would have fixed it if he’d still been with us. Disgrace.

[@markusmybusiness2141]

Difficult to believe this is happening in a Scotland in 2023.

[@gavc6442]

No it’s not, country is being destroyed right left and centre by insane government policies and decisions on a daily basis

[@colinblack3846]

Vandalism pure & simple. Who decided to do this? who is accountable?

[@glentruim1]

Criminal, no other word suitable.

[@jimcameron4672]

A embarrassment to proper demolition

[@user-jk1mh2dp5m]

Words almost fail me but I think a rant is necessary here. I have never seen the likes of this in my life. So the clock was unsafe as it had a crack. OK. So there was nobody available to actually dismantle the top manually? I seem to remember they did some brickwork on the castle not a million years ago to bring it up to the safety levels necessary. That included dismantling of sections of internal wall incredibly difficult to access and storing the stone safely. The Castle being a bit bigger than a clock. Also why was a demolition crane used, or was that their intention all along? It is pretty obvious by the type of bucket and the way they tackled lifting the crown off at an angle instead of lifting it straight up until it was clear of the rest of the structure and scaffolding that the intention was demolition. Then, not happy with that, the machine got stuck in the scaffolding, so proceeded to demolish not only the rest of the clock but the scaffolding along with it. I now believe we have entered third world standards. Who was there from Historic Scotland? Who was there from the Health & Safety Executive? More important, who was there from the council? Who was the person who signed this off? Or do you just pay your £180.00 to get a Building Warrant and then just go for it? Members of the public were passing on the other side of the road. You can clearly see them walking past. I am pretty sure the debris and dust wasn't confined within the site. Great advertising for Beattie, "We can dismantle whatver you want but we really will demolish it". I hope Beattie have to pay to have this clock rebuilt, plus the cost of the scaffolding demolished at the same time.

[@gavc6442]

Some excellent points raised there. Well done, all this needs thoroughly looked into

[@MagLafferty-in2nc]

Be aswell with a wrecking ball, no consideration given at all here. "Get in and tear it down" but I aint surprised. Council & government more interested in bike lanes and pulling the town & roads apart. Our town is a shambles (whats left of it) bit by bit it will be gone before we know it. There should have been professionals doing this to preserve as much as possible of the clock. This weeks Stirling Observer will be worth a read for once. 🕰️

[@astra47420]

In this day and age there must have been a better way off dismantling the much loved clock c listed 1901 monument in Stirling rip😭 it will be the black boy next

[@lucindafergusonart]

Sadly i think you are correct

[@bblair2627]

That is just vandalism

[@pduffy81]

“Dismantled” - now that’s bad comedy

[@trident1314]

Stirling clowncil at it's best...

[@JohnSmith-ze7sv]

We value work done that we couldn't have done ourselves. Isn't this sad?

[@kodycable3580]

No wonder they waited until after dark

[@gavc6442]

This need’s reported to the police and Health and Safety

[@HunterShows]

Huh! What a new concept in restoration. Funny tool to do it with, though. And then they weirdly "restored" the scaffolding afterwards.

[@davejcantwell]

Appalling

[@simonjones7727]

Just impossible to understand what is going on. The beautifully carved capital is removed almost complete, then deposited on the top of the scaffolding platform before being smashed through it with the brute force of the digger and utterly destroyed? WTF!

[@SeeScotland]

Awful

[@user-jk1mh2dp5m]

Just a thought, instead of an apprentice crane driver, maybe they should have used Bob The Builder.

[@andrewjames7027]

I share most people’s disgust at this act. I’m absolutely amazed that this was allowed to happen, every single aspect of this is wrong. Even the health and safety element, surely there should be a calculated exclusion zone to prevent people from falling debris, a hard hat isn’t going to save you from a perfectly aimed scaffold pole. I also hope that every single piece of that scaffolding was destroyed afterwards too. It should have been removed prior to a thorough dismantling (if needed) taking place. We carry out risk assessments in this country for a reason and every person involved in this should be sacked from their jobs. Wrong machine. Wrong method. Incompetent operator. So much could have been done to avoid this. If the Big Ben tower could be safety restored why couldn’t this?

[@srleo36]

All the people the council must have fined over the years for planning violations and can get away with this

[@seanbatty5107]

Not George Beattie’s finest moment. Absolute dreadful. Seen them demolish motorway over bridges with more finesse

[@robertboyle8552]

Who's clever idea was that? Using a double boom crane to dismantle an old monument and just to make it more idiotic...let's do it in the dark! And who made the decision to stop trying to dismantle it and just knock it to the ground! Utterly criminal. Just days after we lost the "Robin Hood" one would have thought that these contractors would have been just a little more careful. Again, I have to say who on earth thought that this was the way to do it!

[@owenkelly2973]

Cultural Vandalism!!!

[@stewartgardiner3578]

Need jailed for this destruction and lack of respect for Scottish heritage

[@marctT4887]

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this way of demolishing has no point of return that clock will not be used again it was built over 100 years ago with very little tools compared to what we have now the structure should have been propped to deem safe enough to work around 1 crane 2 men 1 block at a time probably just as quick and nowhere near as much mess or disruption