The Cambridge and Districts Pipe Band marches past the Town Clock.
Murray Smith
An aged aunty, who was special to me, passed away just before her 100th birthday.
She often remarked that time had ‘flown by’ in spite of having a lifetime spanning almost a century. I guess that must have been a good thing since time drags when life is drudgery. We’re told that medically speaking, pleasurable events boost a dopamine release in the brain which causes our ‘internal clock’ to seemingly run faster. So, maybe it’s true that time flies when you’re having fun.
Having fun or not, there’s 168 hours each week which equates to 700 hours every month, roughly 8400 in a year. Nobody is guaranteed any allocation of time – it rolls on, with or without us, like an unstoppable juggernaut.
Such thoughts came to mind seeing our Cambridge Town Clock had become motionless and silent. Last time the clock ‘stopped’ was early in the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’. Then, its silence resulted from not being wound twice a week – to protect Council staff from unnecessary risk keeping a ‘non-essential service’ operational.
The clock’s time-telling assignment was recently reported as being on hold pending a full automation upgrade. The original winding mechanism had come to the end of its life and was evidently beyond repair.
In my view, the fact it graces our town at all, is something to be thankful for, since it could easily not even be there. Ninety years ago, the clock gazed over the town from an elevated position high up on the now empty ‘turret’ of the old General Post Office building (now an Italian restaurant). Following the devastating Napier earthquake in 1931, the clock’s structure was damaged, presenting a dangerous hazard. The clock tower was dismantled then re-built on its current location.
Now the clock is ticking away again, many people will welcome it ‘back’, while perhaps being unfamiliar with the story behind its reliable, steady chiming, Our Town Clock echoes a melody known as the ‘Westminster Chimes’- it’s the same musical sequence that clocks around the world belt out – including Big Ben which booms across London from the Palace of Westminster clock tower every 15 minutes. The sequence of four notes making up the chime, actually accompany four lines of lyrics found in a famous piece of music- ‘Handel’s Messiah’.
“All through this hour, Lord be my guide, helped by thy power, no foot shall slide”.
So, remember to pause for a moment’s thought when you next hear the Town Clock chiming again. The chime serves as a reminder of our mortality, also, for us to use the fleeting time we have wisely. It’s not ‘donging’ out a random pattern, rather its melodic riff, is a personal prayer inviting God’s help and intervention.
A man named James wrote a letter, preserved in the Bible. Reflecting on being ready for our inevitable appointment with death, he penned, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes”.
His point – ensure you are truly prepared because, beyond time, an eternal destiny awaits us.
Post Office and town clock at Cambridge circa 1913-1915. Alexander Turnbull Library.
