General News
14 December, 2022
Time for restoration
THE lengthy process of restoring the clock faces at the Terang Post Office clock tower began over the weekend.
THE lengthy process of restoring the clock faces at the Terang Post Office clock tower began over the weekend.
Camperdown-based signwriter Ian Currell was tasked with the restoration efforts at the iconic site, which dates back almost 120 years.
He is supported in the process by highly-regarded clock mechanic John Hulm, whose efforts keep the Camperdown clock tower running like clockwork.
“We (Terang Post Office owner Scott Dennis) talked about it and said we can do this, it’ll work and we can make it look magnificent again,” Mr Currell said.
“I was excited to be asked to be involved, especially after just doing Camperdown’s clock tower a few years ago, which was very satisfying to achieve.”
The process of restoration began with the careful removal of the clock faces and adjoining mechanisms over the weekend.
“John Hulm, who is the driving force behind maintaining the Camperdown clock tower, is helping me remove the hands and the mechanisms,” Mr Currell said.
“John will tidy them up and I’ll set about repairing a couple of holes which were in the south facing clock, which will require it to get bronzed or welded.”
Once repairs are completed, the faces will receive a fresh coat of paint to protect against the elements and give a vibrant finish.
“All the faces will be sandblasted before being primed with a magnificent heavy primer at the panel beaters, and then we’ll paint them an automotive white that will give a long-term result for the faces,” Mr Currell said.
“One of the faces has an imprint of the way it was done in the original roman numerals.
“We’re going to take a stencil of that and use an excellent quality American black enamel to redo the faces and get them looking like they did a long time ago.”
The “tricky process” of refitting the faces without damaging them will then begin.
“Because the clock faces are bigger than the holes they rest in, we’ve got to make allowances outside to make enough room to put them in,” Mr Currell said.
“We’ll get them all back in through the entrance, and refit them.”
While the clock faces are being restored, temporary covers which feature the artistic talents of some of the younger residents in Terang will be in place.
Mr Currell’s wife, Sue, is a teacher at the Terang kinder and saw an opportunity for the children to be involved in the process.
Each of the four temporary covers has its own unique design, with two representing love, one representing family and one serving as an ode to Terang’s agricultural significance.
“When I said there would be temporary faces, we brainstormed that it would be good to have something on it,” Mr Currell said.
“She’s taken the ball there and ran, and they’ve come up really nice.
“It is true kid’s art which is going to put smiles on people’s faces for a good month or so while the faces are getting fixed.”
Mr Currell acknowledged it was a “nifty thing” to have made a lasting mark on both Terang and Camperdown’s iconic clock towers, but said the goal was for nobody to know he’d been there.
“What I hope to achieve, that happens with a lot of work I do, is I want to do something that when it goes back in you won’t notice it,” he said.
“I want it to look like it’s always been there, and a real trick to my trade is to achieve a result that doesn’t stand it.
“It’s just a finish that was always meant to be.”