Recently while browsing an Auction site we chanced upon a souvenir tea
spoon for the Kerang Memorial tower clock. As this clock was originally
built by Ingrams, and just recently we upgraded it and recommissioned the bell it was a “Must Buy”.
The Spoon in question atop a 1930’s Ingrams Hipp Movement.
While Memorial clocktowers are fairly common in Australia this one is a
little bit different. Most memorial clocktowers are for the very wealthy , royalty
or war memorials but this one was erected in the memory of a different kind of Hero.
Karlie Mcdonald was by all accounts a brilliant student and then teacher
whose life was cut short when she drowned whilst rescuing students
that had gotten into difficulties in the Loddon River. Whilst the students survived she
unfortunately drowned, exhausted by her actions supporting the students.
Her story is well worth researching.She was certainly Heroic on that day.
The Kerang Memorial clocktower was erected in her memory.
The Memorial clocktower was funded by donations and was installed around 1930,
originally it was a Hipp movement controlled by an Ingrams Hipp type
master clock with a minute impulse controlled bell tolling mechanism.
The Company was then known as Ingram Bro’s Time Systems rather than
the later Ingrams Bro’s and Bright or Ingrams Bright. Now we are back to
simply using Ingrams Time Systems the names have nearly returned to their
1930’s Intineration. Whilst the name has nearly returned to the 1930’s the
technology has moved on radically.
Recently we were asked to do some repairs to the clock and to get the
bell tolling once more- as it had been silent since the 1980’s. The
clock had been modified with a simple electric drive added at some stage
in the past, and that had become unreliable, so we changed that to our
stepper motor and masterclock system that could interface with our bell
tolling system and control an electro hammer to strike the original
bell. As always our conservation directed work made no permanent non
reversable changes to the movement or motion-works.
The advantage of the Master Clock system is that the clock now has
unbelievable accuracy compared to the 1930’s version, will now
automatically recover from a power failure, and will do its own daylight
savings changes.