Te Kūiti town clock resumes old habits

A TRIP to Taupō and back, being fussed over by a variety of experts, special imported parts added – and for what?

After a couple of months of telling the same time on each of its four faces, Te Kūiti’s town clock has resumed its old habit of showing different times on different faces.

Last week there was about a 40-minute difference between the Rora St face and the King St face.

This week that difference was two-and-a-half hours – but it appears the Rora St face is showing the correct time only twice a day.

The latest repair saga began in 2020 when resident David La Varis said it had told a different time on the four faces for about three years.

However, the town clock was the subject of community comment and query as far back as 2010, when a “Thumbs Down” in the then Waitomo News noted the four faces were showing different times and putting the onus on the council to address the problem.

The clock, which began telling time in 1960, was previously repaired by Te Kūiti Television electronics service technician Reece Turner, who repaired it in 2011 and 1993.

He cannot recall what the issue was in 2011, but in 1993, it had an issue displaying the time and its batteries needed replacing.

The mechanism is the clock’s original, and is big compared to modern technology, he said.

“They’re tiny now. The circuit board to run something like the town clock today would be much smaller.

“But the clock faces probably wouldn’t be able to be driven by a modern mechanism.”

In September 2022, King Country News reported a replacement electronic mechanism had arrived from England and Pilbrows Watch and Clock Restorations in Taupō was about to repair and reassemble Te Kūiti’s town clock.

At the time, Pilbrows’ owner Rowan Pilbrow said the new electronics represented a major upgrade for the clock.

“With the old mechanism, if you had a power cut or a change in daylight saving time, somebody would have had to come out and reset the clock, but that should no longer be necessary,” Rowan said.

“I am not exactly certain but it’s possible this town clock will be the first in the country to have this kind of upgrade.”

Responsibility for maintaining the clock remains with Waitomo District Council.

Pilbrows told King Country News yesterday they had inspected the clock and a replacement movement has been ordered. They confirmed only the Rora St face was affected.