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Mr Monkey tours Manchester Town Hall clock tower


Trip date : 12 December 2012
"Those are very loud flies, you know"

Use the control panel above or the link below to hear the carillon play, Great Abel striking three o'clock, and the flies rotating.
clock-chamber.mp3
Mr Monkey looking at the mechanism of the Town Hall clock
  Mr Monkey looking at the carillon control machinery

Mr Monkey followed the guide up to the next floor, the clock chamber. He'd expected to find the clock, the work of Gillet and Bland, but he hadn't realised that the carillon controls would be there as well. The carillon can be played using a keyboard, or automatically with a punched paper roll. Inspecting the clock Mr Monkey saw the flies which unwind and control the time between the carillon playing and the hour bell striking. The guide had made sure that the tour arrived in the clock chamber just before the hour and soon Mr Monkey heard the carillon play the Westminster Quarters, followed by the clackity sound of the fly, then three chimes from Great Abel the hour bell and finally the flies winding again.


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