Friends of St Edmund’s in Sedgefield say they are ‘delighted’ with the initial response to their recently-launched appeal for help to put a smile back on the two faces of the town’s church tower clock.

Dr Alistair Irvine, chairman of the Friends, said this week: “There is no doubt that the faces of the clock have seen better days. At present, they look rather sad and it’s clear from the donations we have already received that the local community and visitors to the town appreciate our plan to give them a facelift.”

The Friends aim to have the faded blue paintwork re-painted and the fingers re-gilded with gold leaf.

At the same time, they want to give the ageing clock a long-overdue mechanical MOT to correct a technical ‘glitch’ which invariably sees the clock keeping silent on its first chime.

Repairs to the Victorian clock and the refurbishment of the faces will cost an estimated £16,000 – largely because of the high cost of hiring scaffolding or skilled abseil specialists.

As a result, the Friends are now inviting donations of any size from well-wishers to help with the work.

Donations can be made via their new ‘Just Giving’ page, which can be found on https://justgiving.com/fo-stedmundschurch or by sending a cheque to the Friends’ membership secretary, Brian Mutch, at 6 Hasledon Grove, Sedgefield, TS21 2JW, tel 01740 622302.
More information about the clock appeal, one of four projects planned by the Friends (the others involve repairs to the church lych-gate, the installation of safety barriers on the top of the church tower and major stonework repairs to various areas of the main building) can be found on the Friends’ website - www.friendsofstedmunds.org

 

Article courtesy of Ron Eyley

 

Page added 8th October 2020