Interested in advertising with us?

Advertise with us

Subscribe to trusted local news

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

  • Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.

Already a subscriber? Log in here.

30

Aug 2020

Last Updated: 31/08/2020

Time stands still in Kirkby Malzeard

by Tim Flanagan

| 30 Aug, 2020
Comment

0

The sharp-eyed and regular passers by, may have noticed that something hasn't changed at St Andrew's in Kirkby Malzeard for more than a week - the time on the parish church clock. But it won't be long before the hourly chimes will be heard again in the village.

kirkby-malzeard-church

On an August morning in the peaceful, pastoral setting of the St Andrew's churchyard in Kirkby Malzeard, it can feel as if time is standing still - and it is.

With a look up to the tower of the centuries-old parish church, villagers and visitors will see that the hands of time are currently unmoved and have been for more than a week.

Following the failure of a spring which saw its pendulum drop and stop swinging, the clock face froze at 11.38 and 30 seconds on Tuesday, August 18.



The incident came four hours after parish sexton and verger Christopher Slater had checked the church and looked around its grounds, before opening the building for the benefit of regular worshippers and others wishing to make private prayer or simply enjoy the ancient structure.

Mr Slater's daily visits to St Andrew's, where he married his wife Mary 56 years ago, are a labour of love and he has particular reason for ensuring that the clock is keeping good time. In 2003, with the help of family, friends and the local community, he raised £3,000 to pay for the clock to have an electronic mechanism installed.

Mr Slater told the Stray Ferret:

"Before then, I had to wind it twice a week - with hundreds of turns each time - one to keep the clock going and the other to set the chimes. It was hard work."


The new mechanism was installed 17 years ago, after the fundraising campaign which saw Mr Slater carrying a sandwich board around Kirkby Malzeard, containing a message calling for support from businesses and his fellow villagers.

He said:

"I had a lot of help from my friend Kevin Ward, Mary and our daughter Susan. We held raffles with prizes provided by local companies, had open gardens events and sold home-baked cakes and scones."





Read more:






With the target reached, RF Potts of Derby was appointed to convert the clock from one set by hand, to  an electronically-driven timepiece.

The company has carried out regular maintenance since and will be back in Kirkby Malzeard soon to complete the highly specialised work required to get the clock with its hourly chimes working once more.

In the meantime, Mr Slater will keep watch on St Andrew's, carrying out the daily inspections, openings and closings of the building, that have been part of his life for 50 of his 79 years.