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Beckett’s mechanism for the Trinity College clock, Cambridge (Cmglee 2019/02/11).
Leeds Mercury. 1857/12/26. Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. The Leeds Town-hall Clock. Leeds. Get it:
.Of the clocks of Leeds, with one exception, that of St. George’s Church, there was not a clock such as a town like Leeds ought to possess, and even St. George’s clock was not what it ought to be, the bell not being of sufficient loudness to be heard all over the town. If they took the ordinary course, of asking for tenders and selecting a particular man – unless they selected him with great care, and with reference to a particular object – they would not get a better clock than was to be found in any other place. The question was, what sort of a clock ought they to have, and how they were to get it? He would leave them to infer the answer from his remarks… He alluded to clock dials, and after recommending the substitution of the concave form for the convex, he observed that he had seen the drawings of the dial for the clock of their town hall, and he found the area very much too small. The rule laid down from experience was that the diameter of the dial of a public clock should be one-tenth its height, upon which principle the dial for this clock should not be less than fifteen feet in diameter. The dial, as at present designed, when the hands were on would look like a nasty black speck on the tower. Whether the architecture could be so modified as to allow of the enlargement of the dial was the architect’s business. As to the bell, they ought to have one sufficiently strong and powerful to make its sound known all over the town. Some would, no doubt, want quarters, but he would venture to say that quarters were of no use, there being plenty of quarter clocks in the town already. He was satisfied they might have a clock second only to the Westminster clock – a clock going to a second a week, with a bell weighing four tons – for £1,000. (Loud applause.) [Beckett was contracted with fellow-pitcher, Potts of Pudsey, and with Warner and Dent from London to build and install the right kind of clock.]
I’ve been in the tower (saw an oily column of smoke rising from the Harehills bus!) and church at St. Chad’s but didn’t realise Beckett was involved in the design.
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LEEDS PHILOSOPHICAL & LITERARY SOCIETY. THE LEEDS TOWN-HALL CLOCK.
A very interesting and instructive lecture “On Public Clocks,” was delivered on Tuesday evening before the members of the Philosophical Society, by Edmund Beckett Denison, Esq., Q.C., during which reference was made to the proposed clock for the Town Hall tower, and some important remarks made on the subject. The chair was occupied by J. G. Marshall, Esq., and amongst the gentlemen present were the Rev. Dr. Hook, Rev. D. Mapleton, Dr. Heaton, J. H. Shaw, Esq., D. Lupton, Esq., G. Shaw, Esq., P. O’Callaghan, Esq., Thos. P. Teale, Esq., S. Smith, Esq., W. S. Ward, Esq., C. Kemplay, Esq., W. Hey, Esq., S. Hey, Esq., T. Pridgin Teale, Esq., W. N. Price, Esq., E. Eddison, Esq., G. A. Smith, Esq., A. Lupton, Esq., J. Jowitt, jun., Esq., W. Armistead, Esq., G. Young, Esq., J. W. Atkinson, Esq., J. Piper, Esq. The only gentlemen present connected with the Town Council were Mr. Botterill, (ex-Mayor), Mr. Brook, and Mr. Lobley. The lecture was illustrated by diagrams, and by a clock constructed with the latest improvements, and fitted up for the occasion by Mr. Potts, of Pudsey.
Mr. DENISON, after some preliminary observations, said that his remarks would be confined to the improvements which had taken place within the last ten or twelve years, which would practically include the improvements made during the last 130 years, for from the time of the invention of the “dead escapement” by a man named Graham, 130 years ago, there had been no important improvement made until about twelve years ago. Up to this latter period the state of their public clocks was a disgrace to the scientific knowledge of England, and was greatly inferior to that in France. Before proceeding further with his subject, his attention, he said, had been directed to a paragraph in one of the local papers, from which it appeared that he would be expected to say something with reference to the clock for their Town-hall, and he would therefore take that as his text. He would begin by asking if it was proposed to put up this clock because it was wanted, for if they were to put a clock in the tower, it should be a clock of importance, and it would be one therefore which would cost a great deal of money, and they should consequently be able to give some definite reason for putting it there. It could not be because it was wanted, for public clocks in the town might be counted almost by the hundred. Neither would it be put there as an architectural ornament, because it was not often they found a clock face having any architectural pretension. (A laugh.) The only reason for it, then, must be this, that they should have a clock of sufficient importance and of sufficient goodness to be the leading clock of the town. That was a legitimate object, and no other object was a reasonable one for asking the ratepayers to expend a considerable sum of money for the erection of a clock, because they would have to expend a good deal of money, whether they put up a bad one or a good one (the more if it was a bad one), and he wanted to point out to them the importance of putting up a good one – one that would be a credit to the town. (Hear, hear.) He knew something of the clocks of Leeds, and with one exception, that of St. George’s church, there was not a clock such as a town like Leeds ought to possess, and even St. George’s clock was not what it ought to be, the bell not being of sufficient loudness to be heard all over the town. Now the Town-hall clock should be the leading clock of the town, and being so, it ought to be a good one, and one which the other clocks of the town would not be ashamed to follow; and yet, he ventured to say, that unless they took some special pains on the subject, they would not get a good one. If they took the ordinary course, as asking for tenders and of selecting a particular man – unless they selected him with great care, and with reference to a particular object – unless there were certain conditions to be complied with, they would not get a better clock than was to be found in any other place, for the mere fact of its being the Leeds Town-hall clock, would not make it better than that of St. George’s church, of the Parish Church, of York Minster, or any other clock upon which a large sum of money had been spent. The question for them was, what sort of a clock ought they to have, and how they were to get it? He would leave them to infer the answer from his remarks, rather than give any description of the clock he thought necessary. Twelve years ago the state of opinion in England as to public clocks was such, that when tenders for the Royal Exchange clock were asked for, the condition laid down by the Astronomer Royal being, that every hour should be struck exact to one second, there was only one tender sent in, a second eminent clock maker denouncing the condition as impossible, and yet at the present time they had clocks going in London and elsewhere which did not vary one second a month, and there were some clocks he could mention where it had not been found necessary to alter a single beat of the pendulum for three months. Then as to price, formerly the average price of a turret clock was from £400 to £600; now, a good turret clock could be put up for £160; so that they had not only accomplished greater accuracy in the mechanical construction of the clock, but a reduction in price equal at least to one-third. This reduction had been effected by the simplification of the machinery, and the substitution of rough cast iron wheels, and works, for highly finished and costly wheels and works. latter were no doubt necessary under the old mode of construction, but under the improved mode, the friction being neutralised, the former, were quite as good. This friction had reference chiefly to the pendulum, the importance of which was understood by all persons familiar with clock making. By a law of nature, pendulums had a tendency always to travel in the same time, whether the arc they traversed was short or long; and speaking in general terms, the problem to be solved in clock making, was this – to get the pendulum to swing always in exactly the same arc. There were necessarily some disturbing causes which could not be obviated, but under the old mode of construction, the friction on the axes of the several wheels, on the escapement, and on the hands, from the state of the weather, were such as to introduce the most serious disturbances, and the improvements recently made by himself and others, had been made in order to get rid of these disturbances. He had found by recent experiments that the pendulum of the Westminster clock, which weighed six cwt., only required an ounce weight, falling one-tenth of an inch at every beat, to keep it going, so that if they could remove the disturbing causes to which he had referred, they would see at once that the problem of clock making was solved.” His attention had been directed a long time to this subject, and after describing the operation of the “recoil,” “dead,” “train remontoire,” and some other escapements, one of which he had, weighing 1 lb., he said that a few years ago he invented a spiral spring escapement, which though only weighing one-sixth of an ounce, kept the Westminster clock going with the greatest accuracy for several months. This escapement he had still further improved, by the introduction of what he called a three-legged escapement, weighing only one-third of an ounce, which was found to do its work with the greatest accuracy. The danger in escapements of so light a constitution, was, that they might attain a velocity which would render breakage certain, but this was obviated by the introduction of the fan fly, which was a very old invention. (The clock fitted up in the room by Mr. Potts, had this escapement, and attracted a great deal of attention at the close of the lecture.) He next alluded to clock dials, and after recommending the substitution of the concave form for the convex, he observed that he had seen the drawings of the dial for the clock of their Town-hall, and, as he expected, he found the area very much too small. The rule laid down from experience was, that the diameter of the dial of a public clock should be one-tenth its height, upon which principle the dial for this clock should not be less than fifteen feet in diameter. The dial, as at present designed, when the hands were on (and it was a great mistake to look at a dead dial, to judge of its effect) would only look like a nasty black speck in the tower. Whether the architecture could be so modified as to allow of the enlargement of the dial, was the architect’s business, not his. As to the bell, they ought to have one sufficiently strong and powerful to make its sound known all over the town. Some would, no doubt, want quarters, but he would venture to say that quarters were of no use, there being plenty of quarter clocks in the town already. They could not have quarter bells in proportion to the large bell, without going to a very great expense, and in comparison with other things they were absolutely useless. Two things then were necessary in this clock-accuracy, and a bell of sufficient strength, that it could be heard all over the town. Those might be obtained if they went the right way about it, and from calculations he had made, he was satisfied they might have a clock second only to the Westminster clock – a clock going to a second a week – with a bell weighing four tons, for £1,000. He concluded by some remarks on illuminated dials, which he said could only be done well at an enormous expense, and by quoting a remark of the Astronomer Royal, that there was no market for clocks such as he had been describing, and that therefore competition was not the proper way to get them made well. (Loud applause.)
After some remarks from the CHAIRMAN and Mr. W. S. WARD, Mr. TEALE moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was seconded by Mr. O’CALLAGHAN, and carried with acclamation.
Mr. DENISON briefly responded, and said he did not wish to depreciate competition, but the feeling amongst the clock makers was such, that for a large clock such as they would require, constructed as he had recommended, there was no market.
The CHAIRMAN announced that the next paper would be read on the 5th of January, by the Rev. Dr. Whewell, “On Plato.”
1877 words.
The Headingley Gallimaufrians: a choir of the weird and wonderful.
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