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Fastest peal
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Longest peal(s)
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| Photo Description | Astwood clock face under repairs |
| Approx Date | 1977 |
| | As church clocks throughout the country chime in the New Year, spare a thought for Old Wolverton and Astwood, where time has been standing still for over thirty years.
The clocks at the Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton and the St. Peter's Church, Astwood, have not chimed in the New Year since the last war.
However apprentices at a Bedford firm have been working on the St Peter's Church clock for over a year now.
The clock has been thoroughly overhauled and it is hoped that it will not be long before it is back in the church tower to see in 1979.
Maintenance engineer Ray Pettet has been working in his spare time since the Spring to get the Holy Trinity Church clock ticking over.
"The clock is now in working order but it is very difficult to wind up at the moment," said Ray, who works at the Milton Keynes College of Education.
"The clock is mounted in the tower on a gantry, but the problem is that the gantry has been partially cut away making it very difficult to get at the clock to wind it up," said Ray.
"I managed to wind it up once and it went for about a week," he added.
Ray explained that the only way he could reach the clock was to climb up a ladder and wind it up one handed.
"It was very difficult and it is a bit dangerous," said Ray.
He has mentioned the problem to the church wardens and it is hoped that it can be solved shortly.
The clock was originally taken to the Radcliffe School in Wolverton and pupils carried out repairs to it.
"I have cleaned it and carried out other minor repairs and the only thing which needs attention now is the striking mechanism," continued Ray. |
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Branch events here:
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Peals
Who has circled the tower to peals:
| No-one has circled this tower |
Who has rung the most peals here:
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Bell Frame
| Bell Frame not yet surveyed |
Classification from "Bellframes - A Practical Guide to Inspection and Recording - C J Pickford 1993"
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The bells now
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Tuning
The figures and diagram below show the difference, in cents, between each bell and what it should be to be in tune with the tenor.
A positive figure shows that the bell is sharp, a negative figure shows that it is flat. There are 100 cents between notes on the scale.
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History of bells in this tower:
| 1 of 3 London ('Balcombe shield') |
| 2 of 3 London ('Balcombe shield') |
| 3 of 3 James Keene |
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