Horologist Jim Greeff with the mechanics that run the Waipawa War Memorial Town Clock, which he has been refurbishing ahead of its centenary in July.
Horologist Jim Greeff with the mechanics that run the Waipawa War Memorial Town Clock, which he has been refurbishing ahead of its centenary in July.
For 100 years now, Waipawa has marked the passage of time by turning an eye or an ear to its War Memorial Town Clock.
A quick glance in passing would show how many minutes until school finished, the library closed or an appointment was looming.
And if you couldn't see the clock's towering dials, its Westminster chimes were an audible reminder ... quarter to ... half past ... or lunchtime with 12 peals from its loudest bell.
The Waipawa War Memorial Town Clock, watching over the town's honour rolls as it keeps the town ticking.
In this, its centenary year, the clock is undergoing a clean and refurbishing in the capable hands of Waipawa's own clockmaker. Jim Greef is one of just a handful of horologists in the country - with even fewer qualified to work on the likes of the Waipawa clock - and he has taken the brass bearings from the massive mechanism, cleaned and regreased them and reassembled the clock's workings, at the same time repairing the chiming mechanism, which had not worked for the last six months.
Jim Greeff in his Waipawa Clock Shop workshop, where he usually works on a more compact variety of clock.
The inner workings of the clock sit at the bottom of the tower, with its bells at the top above the dials.
It's a piece of "absolute quality" says Jim, a mechanical clock with a grasshopper escapement and a "night off" system, made in Salisbury, England in about 1909 by Gillet and Johnston, Royal Warrant holders as clockmakers and bellfounders to His Majesty King George V.
The clock mechanism was shipped to New Zealand and installed in the Waipawa clock tower in 1922, unveiled in its entirety on July 21, 1922, by then Governor-General of New Zealand Viscount Jellicoe, and dedicated by the Bishop of Waiapu, in the presence of town mayor at the time, M Rathbone.
The clock tower is nearing its centenary, as evidenced in the cornerstone unveiled by Viscount Jellicoe.
Since then it has watched over the town's War Memorial, the names of those who fought inscribed in the honours roll at the tower's base.
Few have seen inside the tall white tower. There are those who have repaired it over the years, the occasional class of well behaved Waipawa School children, and a steady and dedicated succession of clock winders who have entered without fail every three and a half days to wind the mechanism - two small crank handles and one big one, hard to turn and taking a massive weight to the top of the tower to drive the bells.
The curious, putting an ear to the wooden door to the rear of the tower, may have heard the clock's heartbeat: a slow and solemn tick.
Jim has great respect for the big, old machine. When asked if he would oversee its replacement with a less hands-on electric mechanism he rejected the idea.
"I wouldn't do it. I couldn't be responsible for that. So many iconic town clocks are electrically driven now, but I won't go near them."
The mechanism has a royal pedigree, being made in Salisbury by Royal Warrant holders Gillet and Johnston.
Jim says the Waipawa clock is one of the bigger mechanisms he has worked on, a far cry from the clocks and watches he repairs and cares for in his workshop at the Waipawa Clock Shop. These he often works on while wearing magnifying lenses.
He has no doubt that, given ongoing care and the attentions - every three and a half days - of a continued succession of dedicated winders, the Waipawa War Memorial Town Clock can mark the passing of time in the small town for another 100 years.
The CHB Museum is preparing an exhibition to mark the centenary of the Waipawa War Memorial Town Clock. Anyone with photographs or memories to share is invited to contact the museum, phone (06) 857 7288.
