The great fire of Morley
The Morley Town Hall Clock has been broken for a few weeks. From the Obtiser:
VISITORS to the town centre may have noticed the town hall clock is fixed at 12 o’clock – but fear not, it will be back working shortly.
The spring and pendulum have both broken, but it should be fixed within the next few weeks.
I have tried (without success) to see inside the clock tower. The mechanism is now a curate’s egg- the only people allowed to look at it are from the horologists.
I’ve also lobbied (without success) for it to be photo-documented. It might as well get replaced with an electronic mechanism which will have a number of operational benefits, but being a Grade 1 listed building, it does need to be carefully documented for historical purposes.
The clock very nearly came to a nasty end 46 years ago and the building could have also been lost, especially if the bells had come crashing down into the Civic Suite below. Local photographer Leslie Overend was there to document it though, and I am grateful to have been able to get permission to put up these photos. They tell their own story, although I have included the original captions.
On the morning of August 18, 1961 a fire started in a mill in Wellington Street, next to Morley Town Hall (pictured left).
Strong winds blew burning embers on to the wooden dome of the Town Hall, setting it alight.
The fire-damaged clock mechanism.
Looking out through the clock face from inside the tower.
The fire-damaged Town Hall still smoulders.
As these images are Copyright www.leslieoverend.com, they have been reduced in size somewhat The collection has tens of thousands of negatives available for scanning/printing.
on February 17, 2008 at 12:53 pm
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Really interesting pics, never seen those before
on February 17, 2008 at 6:53 pm
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Notice the head in the shield over the balustrade opening in the 4th photo- I wonder who it is? Prince Albert?
on February 17, 2008 at 8:07 pm
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What excellent photos. I’m glad they ahve been saved for posterity
on February 19, 2008 at 2:12 am
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I am fascinated by the clock mechanism. It’s huge. Luckily all was saved.
on February 19, 2008 at 10:02 am
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It is much smaller than the Parliament Clock, which can be seen Here
on February 26, 2008 at 8:44 am
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[...] a 20p choc ice and a hobble to the toilets, I enquired as to how the clock repair was going. It seems Potts & co. said they would be back in two weeks time two weeks ago so [...]
on September 15, 2008 at 7:11 pm
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[...] don’t have any (non-burnt out) photos of inside the bell tower (as the safety elf won’t let me in) but you can find three [...]
on January 13, 2010 at 11:17 pm
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Hi Ian,
I sent you some pix some time ago of Morley Town Hall fire, and you were good enough to publicise my Overend’s Morley book and website (www.leslieoverend.com).
I remember you showing interest in the Pavilion, and I looked for pictures of its interior for you – without much luck.
Back in October I was invited to give a talk at the Morley Lit Fest on Leslie Overend’s life and work. I illustrated the talk with lots of pictures – including some I found of Pat Phoenix (Coronation Street’s Elsie Tanner) visiting the Pavilion during its Star Bingo days.
Most of the pictures were taken inside the old Pavilion and although they used a stage and there is some bingo paraphernalia visible, the interior is largely as I remember it (in all its filthy glory) when I used to visit it as a kid to watch Saturday afternoon matinees in the mid- late-1960s.
One of the pictures was even taken from the balcony – I can’t remember ever being able to afford going up there.
If you fancy seeing/using the pix please email me – a computer failure means I have lost many of my old addresses.
Hope all’s well.
Cheers,
Steve White