Just to remind folk of the lovely arndale clock we once had.

[Atarah]

Every now and then, I like to remind folk of the Accrington we once had.
This lovely video showing the clock in the Arndale, also shows what a thriving place our shopping cente once was.

Click on the first coloured photo once, (which shows the Arndale clock), scroll down to the bottom of the page and look at the photos of the clock then just click the black screen, and you should have a "quick nip back in time", for a few mins.

Andy Plant - Public Clocks

[Gordon Booth]

What a marvelous center piece for any public place. That guy certainly had imagination.

It looks like the Arndale was an attractive, living unit, Atarah. Have you any photos of what it looks like now?

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

What a marvelous center piece for any public place. That guy certainly had imagination.

It looks like the Arndale was an attractive, living unit, Atarah. Have you any photos of what it looks like now?

Almost as many closed shops as there are open ones and apart from Iceland and to a lesser extent WH Smith a lot of the open ones never seem to have many customers.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

What a marvelous center piece for any public place. That guy certainly had imagination.

It looks like the Arndale was an attractive, living unit, Atarah. Have you any photos of what it looks like now?

Mick once got escorted out of there for using his camera, no doubt now they would welcome him back, after all, even though the flash on the camera doesn't last long, it would brighten up the shops with no lights on for a short time.

[cmonstanley]

remember sitting there waiting for the missus to finish work.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

....Have you any photos of what it looks like now?

I saw some pictures recently of what the clock looks like now, I expect it will have been scrapped by now though

[magpie]

its in bits and in storage... don't think it will ever see the light of day again....
I personally never liked it . plus it was always breaking down:

[Karateman]

Cant say I ever took to the Arndale clock...strange little people riding bikes if I remember..

Why was it taken down...seems like it might have been a waste of money...how much did it cost?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Karateman

Cant say I ever took to the Arndale clock...strange little people riding bikes if I remember..

Why was it taken down...seems like it might have been a waste of money...how much did it cost?

Does the cost matter?

[Neil]

The clock could have been restored, there was a lot of people making a lot of noise about it a few months back. A meeting was arranged to discuss how or if the clock could be restored. Most of those that had been vocal about how it should be brought back and would like to help turned out to be all noise and didn't turn up. I was there and a couple of residents and a couple of councillors

[Karateman]

Originally Posted by Neil

Does the cost matter?

I think it does if its only going to be up for a few years and then taken down and discarded.....what was the point?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Karateman

I think it does if its only going to be up for a few years and then taken down and discarded.....what was the point?

It was paid for by whoever built the Arndale at the time. It was a very interesting piece - love it or loathe it thing. It proved to be either unreliable or needed a lot of maintenance depending who you talk to. I suspect lack of maintenance made it unreliable and it broke often.

The repair costs appear to be the main reason for it's removal, at the time the Arndale was busy and removing it allowed more selling space to rent out. You decide for yourself why it was removed, I suspect making more space personally.