The original Rotary Town Clock and arch with marching girls and band during the Woolfiesta parade, April 1963 |
Beginning in 12th century Europe, towns and monasteries built clocks in high towers to strike bells to call the community to prayer. Public clocks played an important timekeeping role in daily life until the 20th century, when accurate watches became affordable. Today the time keeping functions of town clocks are no longer necessary, and they are mainly built and preserved for traditional, decorative, and artistic reasons.
Blue Mountains City Council had originally intended that a town clock be incorporated into the superstructure of a proposed rail overbridge to replace the level crossing at Katoomba, but as this did not seem to be a project likely to be implemented within the near future, the Rotary Club of Katoomba wrote to the Council early in 1956 offering to provide a clock for public benefit, if the Council would arrange a suitable structure.
Council thanked the Club for its offer and made enquiries to various towns, including Cronulla, in order to ascertain a suitable place for such a public clock, with the idea then of conferring with the Club as to the siting of this amenity. The intersection of Katoomba and Main Streets was suggested, also the Carrington Bus Shelter Shed as it was then. Rotary favoured this latter position as the most suitable.
At the time Alderman Hand said that a public clock had been erected at Cronulla, sited on the Commonwealth Bank building, but this had been provided by the Bank itself, and he thought that some other premises might be suitable in Katoomba. Following the Council's investigations and various conferences with the Rotary Club, it was agreed in August 1957 that the Council would provide and finance the cost of a supporting arch, opposite the Carrington, to an amount not exceeding £1,000 ($2,000) and the cost of the provision of the clock would be borne by the Club which would also supply the plans drawn by up Gerald Corne. It was agreed that Rotary would provide the clock at an estimated cost of £250.
Tenders were invited for construction of the arch with all of the work to be carried out by Council staff, as well as the purchase of the clock, the total cost being £1,177 ($2,354). These costs were made known to the Rotary Club which then decided, without any request from the Council, that it would bear the whole of the costs involved so that the Council would not incur any expenditure and the project would stand as a gift to the people of the area, although the Club was not able to forward a cheque immediately for the whole amount incurred.
Town Clock design blueprint, Gerald Corne |
In October 1956 the preliminary plans had been submitted to the club by Gerald Corne, and ways and means of financing the purchase of the clock were discussed. A series of barbecues held in Megalong Valley by Harry Hammon and his committee were continued to raise funds for the clock. The Caledonian Society, a dedicated group who regularly held dances at the California Guest house in aid of local charities and good causes, agreed to run a dance for the town clock project, subsequently handing a cheque for £20 to the Rotary Club through their president, Mr. Sid Mavris. A fashion parade held in conjunction with the Quota club of Katoomba, put on by Jack and Marj Scott, resulted in Rotary's share of £31 being added to the fund.
However, the need for a more positive source of funding was apparent. A suggestion from club president Stan Jefferies to run a monster art union with television set, a rarity in those days, as the prize, met with some opposition from members at first, but Stan with the tenacity of a bull-dog, or rather, insurance man, at last won the consent of the club and necessary steps were made to implement the plan. Permission was obtained from the Chief Secretary's department and 2/- tickets were printed and ready for selling in January 1957, quite a sum of money in those days.
Town Clock Art Union poster in shop window, Astor Furniture Katoomba Street |
The added responsibility of paying for the arch as well as the clock emphasised the need for a more concerted effort in raising funds. Sale of tickets in the Art Union had slowed down in the town, with secretary Jack Scott continually urging members to greater efforts. It was felt that saturation point had been reached in the town and consent to explore wider areas was sought. This resulted in the selling of tickets at the G.P.S. rowing regatta on the Nepean River at Penrith as well as at Central station in Sydney; in fact, anywhere a gathering of people suggested a possible vantage point.
Even with these added selling points, the art union was lagging and President Stan came up with tile bright idea of enlisting the help of a chirpy little old lady of over eighty years, Mrs. Robey by name, to sell tickets on a commission basis. It was Mrs Robey's proud boast that she was the best ticket seller on the mountains, so every day she was picked up from her home near Catalina Park by a Rotarian and comfortably set up with table and chair near the Katoomba Post Office on fine days, and quite undeterred would move under the shop awnings on wet days, and sell-tickets she did. Mrs Robey also sang in St. Hilda's Church Choir at the ripe old age of ninety.
Permission to hold a street stall was obtained and this was the first Rotary street stall held on Easter Saturday. The wives of Rotarians, known as Rotariannes, assisted in stocking and operating the stall. Generous prizes were donated by Rotary members – providore, Charlie Colless gave a duck (very topical at Easter); master painter, Jim Crane promised sufficient paint of the winner's choice to paint the exterior of a house; a Stainless steel sink from Bert Lambert’s Hardware; 40 gallons of petrol from fuel agent Len Hansby and two cases of apples from shopkeeper Reg Bartle. Rotariannes worked hard preparing saleable goods, this was before the advent of the inner wheel club of Katoomba, and the stall was a great success adding £78 to the Town Clock fund, with some competitions still to be completed. With the date of the unveiling and handing over of the clock set as May 25th 1957, time was the essence and Easter Saturday with the holiday crowds seemed a most propitious morning.
The Katoomba Town Clock showing the Rotary motto Service Above Self |
The Rotary plaque |
Underneath the Town Clock our fellowship
is fine,
By the Rotary Town clock we'll always know
the time,
Every Rotary fellow and Rotarianne.
Happy when the funds are increasing, the T.V.
set is drawn
Service when it's raining; service when it's fine
The arch spanning high above,
Tickets in our pockets no matter where we stray,
For
our Rotary Town Clock we’ll work until it’s paid.
The Flannagan and Allen version and the Jefferies’ version were sung with great gusto.
Unfortunately
the archway did not stand the test of time and Mountains weather. In 1967
Council staff identified deterioration of the aluminium cladding and internal structure
of the arch as a hazard and removed it, not without protests in the press.
“Give
Us Back Our Clock!
Katoomba’s clock, main landmark in the shopping area, disappeared like a thief in the night.
But it was not stolen. It was chopped down in a hurry because it had been found to be dangerous.
The Blue Mountains City Council had called tenders for its removal
because reports said the supports were decaying.
However when a would-be tenderer examined the pylons, he found one was
so badly rotted away that he recommended instant removal.
Distinctive
and useful
Heeding that advice, Council arranged for its removal by its own staff
in the dead of night – or at least the very early hours of the morning – when
traffic was lightest. However residents are complaining that they miss the
clock.
Apparently it was erected at the behest of the Katoomba Rotary Club many
years ago.
Straddling Katoomba Street, at the top of the hill, the clock was not
only a distinctive land mark, but it was a useful time piece.
Those hurrying for a train always knew whether they had to put in an
extra sprint or could ease up for a breather.
Service
clubs could help
The ‘Blue Mountains Advertiser’ has
received many complaints about its removal and requests for its reinstatement.
If Rotary, Lions, Apex and Quota – all service clubs with an interest in
the town’s progress are not interested individually, perhaps they will combine
to restore the clock; or would the new Katoomba Chamber of Commerce take an
interest?
But the cry still is, ‘Give us back our clock.”
Blue Mountains Advertiser, June 29, 1967.
Blue Mountains Advertiser, August 3, 1967 |
QUESTION WITHOUT NOTICE
MINUTE NO. 1708
ALDERMAN T. MURPHY:
66/286/2400, Erection of Clock on Arch, Katoomba Street,
Katoomba.
A motion was moved by Aldermen Murphy and Lloyd
that the clock be erected as quickly as possible and that the Rotary plaque be
placed in position.
An amendment was moved by Aldermen James and
Stuart that Council accept the offer of 50% of the cost of the Rotary emblem
from the Rotary Club and that Council meet the balance of the cost.
On being put to the meeting, the amendment was
lost and the motion as moved by Aldermen Murphy and Lloyd was carried.
In reply to a question by Alderman Anderson, the
Mayor advised that the plaque would be placed in a suitable position on the
clock arch and would record the history of the first clock, Alderman Lloyd
asked that the Rotary insignia be included on the plaque.
(Council minutes)
The new arch work was completed in July 1968 at the tender cost of $900. Subsequently a new remote control clock was installed at a cost of $1,165.00. Katoomba finally had its clock back. In 1975 Council's Town Planning Department advised that the structure was not aesthetically pleasing and an alternative location and design be examined. Nothing appears to have emerged from this proposal. There is another Blue Mountains town clock located in the shopping centre in Wentworth Falls but that is another story.
* Tower
clocks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turret_clock
* Blue
Mountains Local Studies vertical file - Katoomba Town Clock
* 'The
Rotary Town Clock', presentation by Mrs Georgie Jefferies to Katoomba Rotary
Club meeting, 5 March 1984.
All images from the Local Studies collection
John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
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