AHS Turret Clock Day at Big Brum

The 'Big Brum' Clock Tower

The Antiquarian Horological Society's Turret Clock Group meet four times a year, and this Spring was held in Birmingham so that members and students could climb the Big Brum Tower in the centre of Birmingham.

The day started with a climb up the tower and was followed by two very interesting talks: one on the family of clock makers Joyce & Co. of Whitchurch by Steve and Darla Thomas; and the other on the recent projects of the Cumbria Clock Co. by Keith Scobie-Youngs with the wonderful revelation on the topic of the Salisbury, Wells, and Rye clocks.

The Big Brum Tower is attached to the council buildings of Birmingham and can be seen above the Museum. It is made by Gillet and Johnston in 1885 and has three trains however the chime and strike train no longer sound due to noise complaints!

There were a lot of stairs, and once the stairs
were finished there were ladders!

The strike and chime trains used to be wound from the first level however the clock is completely auto-wound now. This has sadly meant that it is not checked up on enough and lack of lubrication had led to some serious wear.

The weights for the trains. The pendulum (not pictured here) is a 2 seconds
 pendulum so approximately 4 metres long with a bob of around 150kg.

The going train and the chime train behind it.

The going train  with its double three legged gravity escapement and remontoire
(a useful animation on how this works can be found here)

The chiming count wheel

I loved the large pinions!

You'll have to imagine the dial from these two pictures
as the dials were covered and pretty inaccessible

There are 5 bells altogether, the one that strikes
 (or used to strike) the hour is called Big Brum.

The bells from above

Finally, we were treated to a wonderful panoramic view of Birmingham