How to cite this page Comment citer cette page
1974, Blackboy Clock removed for restoration
Event
- has description | a une description
-
Stroud News and Journal gave the following summary of events:
"Time, it seems, has finally caught up with one of Stroud’s most interesting and familiar features. As reported in last week’s issue, the old Black Boy figure and clock which for the last 130 or so years have adorned the front of the former Black Boy School in Lower Street (now the Teachers’ Centre) are very, very worn; so worn, in fact, that recently they were carefully removed and placed in the hands of craftsmen for treatment.
Made in 1774 by one John Miles, a noted Stroud clock maker of his day, the clock itself is now in pieces on a workshop bench in North Woodchester.
AROUND TIME
Polishing and cleaning its innards, replacing the many worn parts and generally rejuvenating the 200-year-old timepiece is a man whose life, it could reasonably be said, revolves around time.
Mr. Michael Maltin of Home Ground, North Woodchester, knows just about all there is to know about clocks. Indeed, the main interest of this retired BOAC senior captain is much broader than merely ‘tweaking’ old clocks back into shape. He is interested in time itself and with every aspect of how it is measured.
[...]
Stroud’s Black Boy was, in its way, a work of art, he said, but it was in dire need of attention, having been out of order for some time.
“It’s in an absolutely filthy condition. There is some ‘dentistry’ to be done on some of the cogs and gears and quite a bit of delicate machining is involved.”
Of the Black Boy figure itself — a little n**** boy holding a gong in one hand which he strikes with the other — Mr. Maltin said it too was in a rather sorry state.
“One arm is missing and quite frankly, the head is rotten — it’s all made of wood, of course. But I’m sure something can be done with it.”
The Teachers’ Centre, he said, was already in touch with another local craftsman — this time in wood — who could restore the figure.
BI-CENTENARY
“We hope that it will all be finished and back in place at least before the end of the year,” said Mr. Maltin. “It has to be really because 1974 is the Black Boy’s bi-centenary.”"
- has type | est de type
- restoration
- carried out by | réalisée par
- Maltin, Michael
- took place at | a eu lieu dans
- Stroud
- took place on or within | a eu lieu le ou dans l'intervalle de temps
- August 1974
- is referred to by | est référencé par
- 'Experts are restoring the Black Boy and his 200-year-old clock', Stroud News and Journal, 15 August 1974