Town clock:
The town clock in Gladstone Road is one of is one of Gisborne's most recognisable and identifiable heritage structures.
History of our clock:
The 1931 Napier earthquake caused structural damage to the Chief Post Office, which at the time was home to the town clock. That building was declared unsafe and a demolition order issued.
After initially being turned down by central government for assistance. In July 1933 the Post Master General advised that after careful consideration the government had decided to donate the turret clock and chimes from the post office building to the council for incorporation in the Robinson Memorial Town Clock tower.
Constructed in 1934 at a cost of £448.10 ($897.00) and dedicated to the late R D B Robinson. Mr Robinson died in 1933 after serving as Town Clerk for 43 years.
The Robinson Memorial Town Clock was unveiled 20th December 1934
The clock today:
The original flood lighting was removed in 1954 and replaced with neon lighting. In 1963 the tower was repainted
In 2005 new lighting was put in at ground level, it allows the clock tower to be flood lit in any colour.
Each October to acknowledge breast cancer awareness the clock is lit up in pink.
The clock stopped at 8:47pm on 20th December 2007 when an 6.8 earthquake rocked the Gisborne district
Design and construction:
The 17 metre (56 foot) tower is constructed of reinforced concrete with a painted plaster finish. The structure is a 4 sided flute main shaft with anachronistic paired stylised doric columns supporting the top of the bell tower
The clock components comprise of a one strike and 4 Westminster chimes. The dial and hands are from the old Post Office building. A new master-slave electric clock mechanism was installed at the time of construction. A competition was run to come up with the design. It's thought to have been "reproduced" from a lighthouse advertisement.
The Cache:
Not your regular cache container, think urban cache. Larger than a Micro but much smaller than a Standard. Can only contain its log book so you will need to bring your own pen. With such a small log, it would be helpful and appreciated if you note in your online log if it is getting too full. Please replace the cache in exactly the same position thank you.
The cache is well camouflaged and in an extremely high muggle area that can be observed from many view points in this area. The difficulty of this geocache is not so much locating the cache, but actually retrieving it without being seen. You will need to employ all of your stealthy tricks to successfully log this one!
The Terrain Rating:
The cache is located in an area with high road curbs so is not wheelchair accessible, but with a little help this geocache can be enjoyed by all. The location is near a busy road so young children will need to be supervised.
First to Find honours awarded to: nzkeko