Lancashire — Civic-time

Blackburn Cathedral clock

May 10, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Blackburn Cathedral, is officially known as the Cathedral Church of Blackburn Saint Mary the Virgin.

Blackburn Cathedral clock

It is situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre in Lancashire.

The Cathedral has a ring of ten bells, cast by Messrs John Taylor of Loughbrough in 1949 and considered by many ringers to be amongst the top dozen or so from a total of two hundred and fifty similar rings.

Fifty steps lead from the ground floor to the belfry.

Little is available online about the clock. Can you help with something about the history? Let us know via the comments area below.

More information

Blackburn Cathedral

About the bells of Blackburn Cathedral

Filed Under: Building clocks Tagged With: Belfry, Bells, Caption, Cathedral Church, Heart, John Taylor, Lancashire, Loughbrough, Messrs, Online Clock, Online Help, Ringers, Virgin

Ormskirk market hall clock

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May 9, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

This very large clock is mounted on to the front of the market hall in Ormskirk, Lancashire.

IMG 0034 203x152 Ormskirk market hall clock

Ormskirk Market Hall, Lancashire

A stallholder tells of a story where a bird, like a cuckoo, used to pop out from above the clock to tell of the new hour.

Sadly this clock has not worked for many years.

Update – 11 May 2011

Clive has been in touch, he said: - The clock used to work and I was asked by the proprietors to make the Cuckoo bit (including the doors) work. This was probably in the 80′s. The mechanics were OK and it was a matter of making microswitches and relays to control the mechanism. It was very successful for years.

Filed Under: Building clocks, Stopped clocks Tagged With: Caption, Clock, Cuckoo, Doors, Lancashire, Market Hall, Mechanics, Microswitches, Proprietors, Relays

Lancaster analemmatic sundial

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October 26, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

With commanding views over the City of Lancaster and Morecambe Bay beyond the Lancaster Sundial is possibly one of the biggest in the country.

Originally the site of a copper-domed oak Bandstand, built in 1907 but now transformed into the Lancaster Sundial.

IMG 7812 203x152 Lancaster analemmatic sundial

The Lancaster Sundial was calibrated and laid out by Peter Ransom, teacher of Mathematics, Romsey.

The sundial is known as an analemmatic sundial. This means the sundials consist of hour points, rather than lines, laid around an ellipse.

They have a movable gnomon (This is the name given to the object that casts the shadow, which in this case is the visitor) perpendicular to the dial plane, the flat surface on which you stand).

The French astronomer Lalande explained the theory behind the analammatic sundial in 1757. He was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, France,near the church of Brou, where it is said the oldest analemmatic sundial in existence is to be found.

The Lancaster sundial is situated at 54.05 North, 2.78 West. It is in Williamson Park near to the Ashton Memorial.

It was calibrated and laid out by Peter Ransom, teacher of Mathematics, Romsey.

The plaques were designed by students from Ripley St. Thomas School, Lancaster and cast in bronze by Ray Schofield, Artist, Sunderland Point.

Further details about the Lancaster Sundial, including how to use it can be found on the Lancaster City Council Williamson Park website.

Other sundials in Lancashire can be found here

: Lancaster Sundial – Williamson Park, Lancaster

: Analemmatic sundials consist of hour points, (rather than lines) laid around an ellipse.

: The sundial is known as an analemmatic (pronounced ana-lem-mat-ic) sundial.

: The Lancaster Sundial was calibrated and laid out by Peter Ransom, teacher of Mathematics, Romsey.

Filed Under: Non mechanical clocks Tagged With: 1069, Analemmatic Sundial, Bandstand, Bourg En Bresse, Brou, City Of Lancaster, Ellipse, Flat Surface, French Astronomer, Gnomon, Lancashire, Lancaster City Council, Lancaster Sundial, Morecambe Bay, Peter Ransom, Ray Schofield, Ripley St, Sundials, Thomas School, Williamson Park

Clitheroe Railway Station, Lancashire

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June 29, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Affectionately known as the Ribble Valley Line this community rail line links the regional centre of Manchester with the delightful market town of Clitheroe.