This suggests that he was buying movements in,was this because he had a lot of orders or was it because he did not make movements. I have seen a large painted dial with his name on and also one with a Deacon of Barton movement in, which appears to be original. Burton-on-Trent 1818 Watch & clockmakers (and agent for the Phoenix Fire Office) Shakespeare William age 75 buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Ester age 80 buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Thomas age 10 days ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Ann buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Jonas buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare William buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Francis ¼/1801 Buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare Charlotte buried ( Ashby church records) Shakespeare John buried ( Ashby church records) Ashby-de-la-Zouch age 37 watch &clockmaker employing 2 men born in Ashby 1871 C71 Salisbury Drayton age 26 buried ( Ashby church records) Salisbury William Bryan age 20 buried ( Ashby church records) Salisbury William age 75 buried ( Ashby church records) His Facebook page contains many photos of the clocks and other mechanisms he and Richard have repaired.Salisbury Ann buried ( Ashby church records) He says apprenticeship programs are disappearing and fewer young people are drawn to the idea of giving life to a centuries old creation that requires no batteries or electricity – just a lot of time and patience. ![]() They say bringing to life a long neglected clock, music box or automaton - and doing it without an operating manual or You Tube video - is a craft. Richard and Ray Bates avoid the word "trade" when they talk about their occupation. Patience is the word that comes to mind as Bates describes the painstaking, weeks-long process of returning a clock to working condition: the patience necessary to repeatedly disassemble and reassemble it to peer at tiny fragile parts through magnifying lenses and carefully file a burr from a filigreed brass minute hand. “There still are problems that can occur where you just seem to spend hours focusing on one area of the clock that isn’t working the way it needs to work and it can drive you nuts,” says Richard. He says the basic operating principles are the same from one clock to the next. "I'd like to see myself doing this easily as long as Dad has." - Richard Bates, Ray's son ![]() Bates relies on a local cabinet maker’s skills for work needed on some clock exteriors. The mainspring is the only interior part of the clock that is not made here. He has his own small machine shop where brass and wooden pieces are cut, turned and polished to look exactly like the original. A bird shaped key is used to wind the box, which pops open to reveal a tiny painted bird that trills brightly.īates doesn’t repair as much as recreate the work of the original makers. On a table in his office is a small ornately designed snuff box. That often means undoing a thicket of bungled repair jobs done by hobbyists and well-intentioned owners.īates also works on antique music boxes and automatons, which are animated windup figures. It’s just amazing.”īates says the challenge and the satisfaction of his work involves lie in understanding the intent of the person who designed the clock. ![]() “I still get that sense when I get up in the morning because there’s always some new challenge. “I was so enthusiastic as a kid, as an apprentice,” he says. "You have this relationship with the man who made the clock 300 years ago, because you're touching the same metal that he worked on himself." - Ray Bates
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