The Clock Tower
- 24 September 2009 20:1429354What a brilliant idea Mark,perhaps Watty might chase this up.If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
- 24 September 2009 20:4129356my understanding is that the propellor is in no state of repair to be of any use.
- 24 September 2009 20:5829358Howard
You are so right...I have followed Monty Pythons lead and will open an office in the deserted Market Square where complainants can come and complain about anything and everything for £25 a hour.Sue has already booked in to discuss the Ellie Telly followed by Vic and Body Art,Croc is next week ...poor chap is in Dour need.....PaulB is down to discuss the luck of the Irish and why its deserted him...meanwhile Dover will go to pot..
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 24 September 2009 22:0329359Swap it for the Telly by the Ellie and let the JCB's reduce it to circuitry down there and we will have a better focal point in the square.
.....A true 'Back to the Future' moment....
"Save the Clock Tower"Oh Boy!, That'll be the day......... - 25 September 2009 07:2429365The propeller doesn't have to be of use, just stand there, doing nothing at all other than remind us it is an iconic feature of Dover's maritime history; it should be kept in Dover, in the public eye, somewhere prominent.
If it's a bit rusty, it can be sorted out, if it's dented or damaged, it can be repaired.
Roger - 25 September 2009 09:0829376I'd imagine that the Clock Tower and the Propeller will get the Brook House/Dover Stage/York Street treatment. Probably some day at four in the morning, when no-one's watching.
Excuse the arch cynicism, but this is not without precedent, is it, as anyone who knows this town's demolition fetishism will agree.
All I can add is "watch out, Southern House".
Floreat Dubris yadda yadda yadda and that...
Andy - 25 September 2009 09:3929378I have recently read that DHB will be retaining the pylon in situ as a tribute to the hovercraft. Besides after fifteen years the pylon has corroded into the base and would be very difficult to remove. Apparently attempts by the Hovercraft Museum to acquire it were refused. Is this accurate does anyone know?
- 25 September 2009 10:4429381It should also be remembered that the Prince of Wales Pier has listed buildings for the Lighthouse, Cafe (the current cafe was not replaced the same as the original)
As the people of Dover will lose the pier with Terminal 2 project then alternative of the Admiralty Pier being upgraded.
Re Clock Tower. As an Executive member of the Dover Society I can assure members that the Society is in contact with DHB re the clock tower as it is a focal point of our seafront. It is also my understanding that English Heritage is looking at what buildings in Dover are of "importance" possibly with the intention of listing.
Re the propellor. Again as a part of the history of Dover (albeit a very limited period) it would be good if DHB could "landscape" this into the Terminal 2 project. Certainly Dover should keep it. - 1 October 2009 21:2829624Did I HEAR right at the meeting tonight,When Bill got up to talk about D.H.B. that they are now going to move the Clocktower after all? If they do it is a wrong move.We need some of our old landmarks left alone and the Clocktower is one of them,if you look on any old postcards E,T,C, of Dover sea front you see the clocktower where it is today and it must stay there.
- 1 October 2009 22:1429629i have a wonderful postcard of some victorian women with parasols strolling past the clocktower.
would be criminal to vandalise it now by moving it. - 1 October 2009 22:5529633Howard
You are right lets back BuddyG's campaign to 'Save our Clock Tower' before it's too late!Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 2 October 2009 10:2629656Yes I would go along with that one,what we need is a Dover march again it worked before,and it would this time.
- 2 October 2009 10:3629658Vic yes Bill Fawcuss did say last night that they are moving the Clock Tower, demolishing the pier but building a shorter one and so on...also I didnt quite hear but also building a new crossing over Townwall St. It wasnt that easy to hear everything. I think Im understanding that right. They are however going to keep the Clock Tower, but just moving it. Bill Fawcuss is a pleasant man and makes everything sound so feasible.email: dover7@msn.com
- 2 October 2009 11:2029662Thanks Marek,
I can be there if anyone want's to listen singing
(to the tune of Chuck's Johnny-be-good).
"Way down in Dover Harbour near the Hoverport,
way back amongst the rubble of that ruined sort.
Stood a Clock Tower made of earth and wood,
where played an 'ol chap named Buddy-be-good.
He never learned to read or write too well
but he can play for the tower and ring that bell...
Go, go etc, etc"
Oh Boy!, That'll be the day......... - 2 October 2009 11:3929664Ah! Buddy thats a great little song there, found myself singing away, just as well no one can hear me as I can't sing for toffee
Bill Fawcuss did say they were keeping but moving the beloved Clock Tower, it was hard to hear everything last night, they could do with a microphone at these meetings and before you say it must be an age thing PaulB, I'll have you know that I am not yet hard of hearing as I'm still a young thing really.
- 2 October 2009 16:0829671Reading the accounts of the Sea Change presentation above and elsewhere, it all still seems as clear as mud particularly since nobody appears to have been able to hear what they were saying anyway!
The plans for the Western Docks development have been around for donkeys years. I have glossy brochures at home with full details but am in Canada at the moment so will have to settle for the plans below, which I posted on my fotopic site nearly three years ago.
http://shipsintheportofdover.fotopic.net/c1194233_1.html
Nothing has happened since then apart from knocking down the derelict buildings on the old Hoverport.
The questions I would have wanted to ask of Bill Fawcuss et al, should one have been able to hear the answers, would have been:
1. Do you seriously believe that the Terminal 2 development will ever happen given that no progress has been made since the original announcement several years ago and that the world has suffered an economic meltdown since then with the UK particularly badly affected?
2. When do you expect to make a start, given that the exponential increase in freight traffic for which this terminal was intended to cope has now evaporated and it will be many years, if ever, before freight again rises to a level which the present Eastern Docks cannot handle?
3. Can you be specific as to where you intend to relocate the clock tower, given that you have now had over three years to mull this over with English Heritage since formulating your plans for Terminal 2? Would one be correct in surmising that it will only be shifted a short distance since you have stated that it will remain at the entry to the new pier? As the latter is a boardwalk separating the lorry park for the new berths from the marina to be built out from the beach, is one correct in assuming that the clock tower will form part of an imposing new entrance to same?
4. Do you intend to preserve the hovercraft propeller and pylon as a vivid memento of a very important period in the history of Dover Harbour? Is there any truth in the rumour that you were not interested in retaining this fascinating link to the recent past and that it was left to the Hovercraft Museum to try and muster the funds to shift the propeller to Lee-on-Solent with the pylon to be demolished as regarded as too difficult to restore for preservation? - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
2 October 2009 16:2429672the cocktower as i heard it is as follows,a new pier is being built with the lighthouse [listed or protected]at one end and the clocktower [allso listed or protected]at the other. - 2 October 2009 17:0529679Hello Ed - hope you are enjoying yourself over there in Canada. Always enjoy the fact that you post in from weird asd wonderful locations.
Yes hearing was a tad difficult at times last night especially when you are at the back of the room as we were. And with a full crowd absorbing the volume you can have difficulty at times trying to hear whats being said at the front.
Just a bit re Bill Fawcuss. Bill Fawcuss was NOT doing the presentation. He was just a spectator in the audience so the items about the harbour were only a small piece of the general stuff. All the usual topics were discussed from trucking, ring roads, the £1 per lorry idea, revamping the tired shops and so on, so these meetings tend to go all over the place. For example there wasnt anyone on the premises to give anything of value ring a ring road as that would be entirely a government matter, although Nadeem did do a reply and so did Nigel Collor who was also there.
Bill Fawcuss just stood up to answer a question that came up...I think the question may have been from our own Member here Pat Sherratt. It was at this point that Bill Fawcuss mentioned that the Clock Tower would be moved. It wasnt possible to get anything further as the next questioner is up and so forth asking something else from someone else. These meetings are generally good in that they give a chance to people who dont know all the chat, as we chat on here, to keep up generally with whats going on.
I hate to appear ageist...but as the audience is so old one gets the feeling that these meetings are more about re-assurance than anything. There are no powerhouse Gordon Gecko's on the premises to help power us into the coming decade and beyond.email: dover7@msn.com - 2 October 2009 17:0629681Brian, I am getting more and more puzzled. As you were at the Sea Change presentation, perhaps you can help me to understand what is proposed. The diagram below is of the Terminal 2 and marina layout.
http://shipsintheportofdover.fotopic.net/p38082602.html
The old Prince of Wales pier will disappear under the boardwalk. Is the "new pier" to which you refer actually the arm which encloses the new marina? If so, it would seem no problem to shift the lighthouse to the end of the new pier opposite berth No.12.
If, as you say, the clock tower is to be at the other end of the pier then presumably it will be on the esplanade on the location which, from memory, I think is presently known as King Charles II walk.
Looking at the section of the Sea Change website with reference to the Esplanade, there is no mention of the clock tower, just the Sea Sports Centre and shops and restaurants. How can this be? Please illuminate.
http://www.seachangedover.co.uk/projects/esplanade.aspx - 2 October 2009 17:1529686I woudl rather the clocktower moves than lost within swathes of carparks and lorry queues....Been nice knowing you :)