Congregants campaign so church clock can tick again

For more than a century, the clock on the tower of St Andrew's Roundhay United Reformed Church has counted the hours above the community - but last year, the time piece stopped and the accompanying bell fell silent. Now the congregation is rallying for its repair.

"It is part of our heritage," says Lewis Murray, church elder at St Andrew's.

Murray is responsible for the bricks and mortar of the Grade I listed building, but the clock in particular "means a lot to him".

About 30 years ago, an autowinder was put in place to ensure the continued ticking of the clock.

Previously, one of Murray's roles was to head up the tower after worship, wind the clock by hand and balance the weights - often with pennies.

"The mechanism is beautiful, it is proper engineering," he says, admiring the cogs and coils which once coordinated the hands on the four faces.

"It is beautiful brass work and we have managed to keep it going until now."

Over the years, the specialist mechanism behind the autowinder has grown "insecure", according to Murray.

It eventually ground to a halt last year and the autowinder is in need of repair.

The church has been quoted £15,800 to replace it, something the members say they simply "cannot afford".

"It is a heck of a lot of money," says church secretary Jane Bunyan.

"The congregation always give very generously, but this time we are reaching out to the public - please help us find that money."

A fundraiser to get the clock ticking again started this week with a coffee morning, which helped to raise about 10% of the total.

Bunyan says if the money is raised, they will also be able to add a silencer to the tower bell, so the community is not disturbed by gongs in the small hours.

"It is a landmark in this community," she adds.

"It has been a focus of the church, of the building, we have taught children in rainbows, brownies and cubs to tell the time looking at the clock face.

"To get it back up and running would feel, to me, like the heart of the community was back."

The number of times the clock and accompanying bell have been silenced over the century can be counted on one hand, according to the Sheana Dudley.

She is behind pastoral care at St Andrew's.

One such occasion was during World War Two.

Dudley is among the community members at the church to help organise a calendar of events to raise the funds for the clock.

"It is more important to heat the space, but it is still important to the community," she says.

"Clocks do not go on forever, but we miss it."

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