Historic clock tower for sale at Andy Thornton's
West Yorkshire, UK -
What is the connection between Dolly Parton singing at Glastonbury last month, and the late Victorian clock tower for sale at Andy Thornton Ltd? The answer is the eight hour working day.
Dolly Parton famously sang 'Nine to Five' about the eight hour working day, and Andy Thornton's clock tower once measured time at the first biscuit factory where workers had an eight hour working day, commencing in 1901, at the Co-operative Wholesale Society's Crumpsall Biscuit Factory. And maybe this clock, which looks as if it could date to 1901, was erected in celebration of this important event.
Another important event was the invention and manufacture of the notorious Jammie Dodger, named after the Beano's Roger the Dodger, under whose Crumpsall factory clock it was made for decades until moving to Burton's at Llantarnam. In 2009 they were the most popular children's biscuit.
Crumpsall Biscuit Works opened in Lower Crumpsall, Manchester, in around 1873. The factory created numerous products and had four departments - biscuit factory, cake factory, sweets and toffee department, and the drugs and sundries section.
The works at Crumpsall stamped on its Cream Crackers tin 'See that you always get Crumpsall Cream Crackers, the only 8 hours day biscuit works in England'. It had numerous facilities for its employees including a cricket club, football club, tennis courts and recreation ground (see illustration on the for sale ad) a dining room for over 600 people with discounted refreshments and free warming of packed dinners, a library, and board and card games. The works put on numerous social events through the year, including sports days and dances and whist drives nearly every week during the winter.
The four historic 65ins (1.67m) diameter iron clocks and their encasing 30ft (9.1m) high wooden turret tower were made by William Potts of Leeds, whose firm made large numbers of public clocks both home and abroad for cathedrals, churches, town halls, schools, engineering works and railways. Queen Victoria granted the company a Royal Warrant in 1897.
The clock tower is now for sale at Andy Thornton's at it's Elland works near Halifax where it has been a feature since the firm rescued it from the Biscuit Factory as it was being demolished in the late 1980s, and meticulously restored it, and has maintained it ever since.
Update: the clock tower is sold.
Andy Thornton Ltd
Dolly Parton famously sang 'Nine to Five' about the eight hour working day, and Andy Thornton's clock tower once measured time at the first biscuit factory where workers had an eight hour working day, commencing in 1901, at the Co-operative Wholesale Society's Crumpsall Biscuit Factory. And maybe this clock, which looks as if it could date to 1901, was erected in celebration of this important event.
Another important event was the invention and manufacture of the notorious Jammie Dodger, named after the Beano's Roger the Dodger, under whose Crumpsall factory clock it was made for decades until moving to Burton's at Llantarnam. In 2009 they were the most popular children's biscuit.
Crumpsall Biscuit Works opened in Lower Crumpsall, Manchester, in around 1873. The factory created numerous products and had four departments - biscuit factory, cake factory, sweets and toffee department, and the drugs and sundries section.
The works at Crumpsall stamped on its Cream Crackers tin 'See that you always get Crumpsall Cream Crackers, the only 8 hours day biscuit works in England'. It had numerous facilities for its employees including a cricket club, football club, tennis courts and recreation ground (see illustration on the for sale ad) a dining room for over 600 people with discounted refreshments and free warming of packed dinners, a library, and board and card games. The works put on numerous social events through the year, including sports days and dances and whist drives nearly every week during the winter.
The four historic 65ins (1.67m) diameter iron clocks and their encasing 30ft (9.1m) high wooden turret tower were made by William Potts of Leeds, whose firm made large numbers of public clocks both home and abroad for cathedrals, churches, town halls, schools, engineering works and railways. Queen Victoria granted the company a Royal Warrant in 1897.
The clock tower is now for sale at Andy Thornton's at it's Elland works near Halifax where it has been a feature since the firm rescued it from the Biscuit Factory as it was being demolished in the late 1980s, and meticulously restored it, and has maintained it ever since.
Update: the clock tower is sold.
Salvo Fair
Story Type: News