Redcar Town Clock restoration is complete

The time is right for Redcar's Town Clock to come under the spotlight when a £230,000 refurbishment of the 93-year-old building is officially unveiled on Thursday, November 16.

Children from the town's primary and secondary schools will tell the story of the King Edward VII Memorial Clock in a performance of music and dance in the High Street, starting at 4pm.

Then Redcar and Cleveland Council's Mayor Councillor Mary Ovens and the chairman of the Friends of Redcar Town Clock Vera Robinson MBE will switch on the lights at around 5pm to illuminate the clock from dusk to dawn.

The town's most famous landmark now has a fully-restored clock tower and clock mechanism as well as the return of its chimes with the fitting of a bell, discovered in store at Redcar's Kirkleatham Museum.

Panels, created by children from four primary schools - Coatham, Ings Farm, Zetland and Wheatlands - have told the history of the clock tower, erected by public subscription in 1913 as weeks of specialist work has been carried out. The panels will now form a mobile exhibition, touring libraries.

A leaflet, telling the clock's history and the project's story, is now being produced, along with interpretative panels to be erected in two of the tower's four arches.

The involvement of children in the work was a key element of levering the majority of funding, £148,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, while the Northern Rock Foundation supplied £20,000 with the Council providing a total of £40,000 after matching the Friends' £10,000 starter from its public appeal three years ago.

The Mayor said: "‘It is wonderful we have been able to restore this lovely building which has stood at the heart of the town for so many years.

"The clock is Redcar’s most famous landmark and I know the town’s residents will be delighted it has been enhanced and conserved for many years to come."

The Friends' chairman Vera Robinson said: "When the Friends of Redcar Town Clock undertook to save this listed building I had no idea of the tremendous support we would get from the townspeople.

"Now, four years after the public appeal was launched, the restoration is complete, signalling that Redcar people do indeed care about their heritage and the clock’s future is now secure."