Time for a long-term fix for Ripon’s most unreliable civic timepiece

Queen Victoria is not amused! Nor are those Ripon residents and passing road users who want to know the time of day (or night).

The problem is a monumental one and can be seen at the junction of North Road, Palace Road and Princess Road.

The clock tower, paid for by sisters Frances and Constance Cross to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee has, in recent times, become extremely unreliable.

Its hands are currently frozen on 7.37 am (or 7.37 pm) — and won’t be able to mark the arrival of the midnight hour that will herald in the New Year.

Ripon’s constant reminder of Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign comes in the form of the specially-commissioned Platinum Jubilee horn, which is one of the instruments used by hornblowers to set the city’s daily watch at 9pm prompt.

Less than half a mile from Ripon Town Hall, her great-great grandmother’s crossroads timepiece was once a means of reassuring travellers heading for trains at Ure Bank Station that they were not running late.

Victoria, who clocked up 63 years and 216 days on the throne – a record subsequently beaten by Elizabeth II –  would surely be bemused by the four-faced clock’s erratic performance.

The clock tower, which was formally inaugurated in June 1898, bears a Ripon Civic Society green plaque and society co-chair Richard Taylor, told the Stray Ferret:

“I was delighted earlier this month, when the clock was fixed by North Yorkshire Council, but when a friend called and said it had stopped again within a matter of weeks, I thought they were winding me up!

“But joking apart, this is a significant and highly-visible monument of historic significance on the approach to the city centre and this time, please can a longer-lasting solution be found to sort out its internal workings.”

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