It's about time: Victorian clock returns to Leeds

Morecambe promenade railway station's Victorian clock has returned home to Leeds after more than a century.
CLOCKING ON: Curator John McGoldrick  with the clock. PIC: Tony JohnsonCLOCKING ON: Curator John McGoldrick  with the clock. PIC: Tony Johnson
CLOCKING ON: Curator John McGoldrick with the clock. PIC: Tony Johnson

The clock made its timely return to the city this week and is now at Leeds Industrial Museum.

The museum will put the clock on display along with other items from its collection of Leeds industrial artefacts.

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John McGoldrick, curator at Leeds Museums and Galleries, said tens of thousands of people from different eras would have seen the clock when they visited Morecambe.

“It’s wonderful to think that such a proud piece of our city’s local history played a part in the fun they had by the seaside,” he said.

Leeds clockmakers Potts and Sons made the solid pine timepiece and it was fitted at Morecambe Promenade station after it was rebuilt in 1907.

It was bought by a private collector in the 1970s. The collector recently put it up for auction where it was bought for the museum.

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Councillor Brian Selby, lead member for museums and galleries at Leeds City Council, said the clock’s return was “fabulous news.”

“It’s important that we preserve items which reflect our city’s proud industrial history, particularly when they have such a colourful story behind them. Future generations will now be able to learn about it and enjoy it,” he said.

Potts and Sons was founded in Pudsey in 1833 by William Potts. It supplied over 1,500 clocks for public buildings, including Leeds Town Hall.