'Timelord' restoring shopping centre's iconic clock

To his friends, retired engineer Pete Dexter is known as "The Timelord", a nod to the hundreds of hours he has spent restoring a very special clock.

Since May, Dexter has been breaking down an iconic shopping centre clock into thousands of parts to check, repair and carefully return each piece to its correct place.

The 69-year-old volunteer's makeshift workshop is filled with hundreds of pieces of the metalwork, mechanisms and computing that has kept the Victoria Centre's unusual Emett Clock in Nottingham ticking since the 70s.

"It doesn't matter how much time I spend on it, it's a labour of love - I want to get it right, I want to put it back as it was," he said.

The clock is set to return to its original location once repairs are complete.

Dexter is excited by the many months of work ahead of him.

"If I stopped to think about it, I probably would be a bit daunted," he admitted. "But it's one task at a time.

"I'm so fascinated by this unique piece of work."

Dexter's workshop is a windowless converted storage unit beneath the shopping centre.

He has already spent hundreds of hours working on the clock, both at home and in the workshop, checking it piece by piece and repairing, cleaning or replacing where needed.

He has a spreadsheet of every single nut and bolt, which adds up to about 3,500 items, and his "to do" list is 300 tasks long.

"I work well with lists," he said. "It'll be nice to get to the end and think, 'it's done'.

"It's very complicated, it's not just mechanical parts - you'll have seen parts with bearings and movement.

"Also electrical parts, various plumbing parts, and the control systems...

"There's lots of different facets of engineering involved in this.

"It's exciting, as an engineer, I want to fix things, to look at my list and see it shrinking, taking pride in the bits I've done already, it's a good feeling."

His passion for the timepiece, which was installed in the shopping centre in 1973, began after he visited it with his granddaughter in 2011.

He offered to help on its restoration, and it is now believed he has taken it apart and put it together more times than its original creator, Rowland Emett.

The clock, officially named Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator or water-powered clock (although it is actually engine powered) is a unique design, and its giant metal sunflower opens up and moves every 15 minutes, playing a baroque-style tune.

Its creator also made pieces for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and parts of it came from doorknobs and bikes.

Dexter has watched old videos of the clock in action, to get it as close as possible to the original.

He admitted it was a large task, and he is getting help with some parts, such as painting and laser cutting, but it is a challenge he continues to enjoy.

The clock was taken down and moved into his workshop earlier in the summer for maintenance.

It has now been announced it will return to the front of the centre, after spending about 10 years at the back, with shopping centre bosses recognising how much shoppers preferred it there.

It is a move Dexter welcomes.

"I think it's the right place for it to go back, it's its home," he said.

"I'm really looking forward to it returning.

"I'll probably be paying a bit more detail to how it's performing, at the back of my mind thinking, 'it should be doing this, it should be doing that...'

"As much as I've seen it in every little nut and bolt, I'll still be in awe, as most people will.

"Just to see children around, throwing their coins in, making a wish... that's what it's all about."

It will be reinstalled in winter, once Dexter has finished his renovations and the necessary building work is done so it can once again welcome visitors to the centre.

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