In 2024 I bid for and won in an online auction in Montrose, Angus what turned out to be an almost-beyond-hope barn find – a Gents of Leicester C7 Master transmitter. When I collected my £25.00 purchase from the auction house, I was asked if I wanted all the loose bits and the broken glass as well! Someone before me had clearly started taking it apart and had given up, leaving it to deteriorate in a damp environment. When I got it home, I found that I had bought a very early C7 – its serial number is 1277 which I think dates it to November 1912 (a few weeks after Titanic sank!). Is this the oldest Master still working in a domestic environment?
Unfortunately the auctioneer was unwilling (understandably) to give me much information about the seller so I cannot say what its original location was, other than it was local to Montrose in Angus in Scotland. It probably was installed in a factory since the original, albeit very rusty, door keys were included in the ‘loose bits’ and these were (and still are) attached to a large block of wood which has the words ‘Foreman’s office and clock’ inscribed on it.
After two years of research and rebuilding, I now have a working system clunking away loudly in the hallway outside our kitchen door. Needless to say, I also have a very tolerant and understanding wife! As far as possible I have kept all the original parts despite the level of rust, dirt and corrosion on them. I had to make one brass bearing (the only ‘loose bit’ that must have escaped) and replace the pendulum suspension spring (I could not source any fifteen thou. springy steel, but the ten thou. that I used seems to work well.) A local picture framer supplied the replacement 2mm glass for the door. I did however have to remove and replace the top and bottom wooden panels on the case, since the woodworm had virtually reduced these parts to sawdust. The power source for the system is an old school variable power supply, which I have disguised in a home-made wooden case which matches the case of the Master.
This master is running two slave clocks, both sourced from the well-known online auction place. One slave is a 9 inch diameter Gent movement in a Bakelite case with baton markers instead of numerals. I think this clock may originally have been installed in Stoke on Trent railway station. The other slave is 12 inches in diameter, also in a Bakelite case and although the movement is a Gent movement, the case and face are not – the face has the inscription ‘Restored by Bright’s of London’. Both the coils in these two slaves were open circuit when purchased, but I have managed to rewind them and they are both working reliably.
The attached before and after photographs may give some idea of the original condition and what I now have.
As it was when I bought it:
I did not try to tidy up the poorly-rewound coil on the master, and I have found that increasing the mass on the end of the gravity lever makes the system more reliable, although it does increase the noise level.
And the system as it is now:
