VG&M Clock Tower Mechanism

Although this area is out of bounds for our visiting public we thought we'd show you what our clock tower mechanism looks like.
William Hartley (the jam manufacturer) funded the clock and bells (£1,133).
The tower clock was made by William Potts & Sons, Leeds.
Our bells chime at each quarter of the hour, known as a Westminster Quarter which consists of the notes
E C D and G in various combinations.
The Bells were cast by Taylor of Loughborough and each of the 5 bells is inscribed with a line from Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’
Ring out the old,
Ring in the new,
Ring out the false,
Ring in the true,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Watch our other video which takes a closer look at the bells - • Behind the Scenes - Th...

[@fatherchristmas2998]

I love clocks

[@mommykaynevlog5518]

The sounds is good

[@donaldasayers]

A most unsympathetic electric conversion of a lovely clock mechanism.

[@porkpie1968]

It might not be fully electric. They might just have put the motors on for winding up purposes. Like, the motor winds the weight back up so someone doesn't have to. Edit: nvm ur right

[@haslinabdulhamid5787]

The fourth bell has two strings so the amount of strings are 6

[@Steven_Rowe]

Where is the museum and when we're the bells cast? Taylor's make beautiful bells especially heavy bells. Another clock manufacturer Gillett and Johnstone also used to cast bells which are really gems. Sadly Whitechapel are now gone which I almost think is a crime. My earliest childhood memories are of Whitechapel as my dad was a bell hanger there

[@VictoriaGalleryandMuseum]

We are in Liverpool, at the heart of the University of Liverpool campus. The bells were cast in the 1890s when the building was being constructed possibly around 1891.

[@Steven_Rowe]

@@VictoriaGalleryandMuseum such lovely engineering, I love seeing things well made. I'm glad I got to see so much that was made well and made in the UK. I have seen so many bells and clocks in my time. The last clock I wound by hand was in 2014 when I rang at Oxenholme in Yorkshire, I got to wind the clock,? As a boy and a ringer we wound the clock and so da often sent me over to the tower to wind it . They don't make stuff this good anymore

[@VictoriaGalleryandMuseum]

​@@andrewbellringer404 it was 1967 as there is another plaque on the mechanism by Potts of Leeds saying 'Electric winding by W.M Potts & Sons 1967"

[@hermindasalazar6822]

Thats big ben cousin

[@darrent6814]

Yes it is

[@hermindasalazar6822]

@@darrent6814 and it sounds like a canadian triple chime mantle clock 0:01

[@BukuiZhao]

Not anymore because it's converted

[@krnlg]

I see it has unfortunately been converted so that the original mechanism is not doing any timekeeping :(

[@benheatherman2839]

+krnlg I noticed that aswell. not a whole lot different than a bunch of solenoids...

[@porkpie1968]

I think that it still is the original clock, it's just motorised No wind ups or weights, but still

[@Patriot1776]

That's utterly depressing seeing its one that's been converted. That's just not right. There are ways of adding modern enhancements to eliminate the need for winding and improving the timekeeping while still keeping the original mechanism working.

[@TheFoolishness95]

Can't have done much of an improvement in fairness because I was there a few weeks ago and the hour strike was 5 seconds slow, you could forgive an original clock mechanism for a small difference like that, but seeing as it's been all 'modernized' it should strike dead on the hour

[@Steven_Rowe]

Spent more days than I can possibly remember in church towers, not only as a ringer but my dad was a bell hanger for Whitechapel. One of the simple pleasures in life that I miss now as I live in Sydney is going into a village church, smelling the stone and the wooden pews, sitting in silence and hearing the pendulum of the clock going ker klunk, ker klunk.

[@BukuiZhao]

I agree. What should have been done: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqC8mKGdnJZ3qZI

[@BukuiZhao]

That's not cool. Restore it back now. Mechanical movement converted into electric movement. You could have added electric motors to wind the clock.

[@VictoriaGalleryandMuseum]

Thanks for your comment - Interestingly there has always been an electric supply in the clock tower, even from 1892! The cast iron clock dials were designed by Alfred Waterhouse who designed the rest of the building. Today, only the fireplace clock is still in existence. A clock dial was positioned in the Library by the spiral staircase and it was connected via electricity to the clock tower clock. Two other clocks on the balcony in the Lecture Theatre and the Grand Entrance Hall were all similarly arranged so that all clocks in the building would be keeping time with each other. An electrical current was sent each minute and would move the hands on the tower and all of the clocks in the building and this arrangement was set by the clock makers and Professor Campbell Brown from Chemistry advised on synchronisation. The same company William Potts and Sons helped with the electric mechanism conversion in 1967.

[@BukuiZhao]

@@VictoriaGalleryandMuseum I do not need the history to be explained. I just need the reason of the converting to be explained.

[@speedbitgaming4124]

@@BukuiZhao "modernization"

[@BukuiZhao]

@@speedbitgaming4124?

[@justinnaramor6050]

@@BukuiZhao Yeah... that comment was hardly helpful in any fucking way. Ridiculous. Interestingly I could definitely hear mechanical noise, though that's likely just the movement of the levers plus the bell strikers being controlled by solenoids. Not the same beauty as having purely mechanical power. Lunden's 'Big Ben' clock tower has been around forever and yet it still uses purely mechanical power. Electricity is used only to wind up the weights, via electric motor. I see no reason why not to use mechanical power just for the sake of being "modern". Lol! Should all-acoustic pianos be swapped out for "modern" electronic pianos, then? Lol WTF! Just because purely mechanical (I.E non-electric) power is older, doesn't mean it has no place anymore!

[@jacksomphounphakdy4092]

7

[@archiebald4717]

A sad sight.

[@aserta]

Old clocks should have no electronics on them. Might as well scrap it and melt it to make cheap bushings. Not only is this robbing the next generation of an experienced operator that might keep the mechanism in top shape, but it's also a bit disrespectful. The museum's top spenders could be fleeced for the pay. They probably don't need to ride in expensive furnishings.