Caledonian Park’s nineteenth-century Cally Clock Tower is preparing for its third tour of the year via Zoom.
The first digital tour was held at the end of January and welcomed 73 guests. The guests explored the 45-metre centrepiece of Caledonian Park from the comfort of their own homes. The second tour involved 74 attendees in February. Visitors were treated to a 360-degree view of London from Alexandra Palace to Crystal Palace.
Tours include an online presentation exploring the clock’s 150-year history and architecture, featuring the mechanisms of its turret clock and its status as one of the largest bronze bells in London.
The Cally Clock Tower was the epicentre of the Metropolitan Cattle Market, which opened in 1855 and replaced Smithfield as the flagship meat market in London during the Victorian era. Chief architect James Bunning was commissioned to build a marketplace in Islington, which included a central clock tower. Islington Council applied to the Heritage Fund for grants in 2018 that saw the Cally Clock Tower renovated, alongside the building of the Cally Clock Tower Centre in June 2019.
Benjamin Earle, Learning Officer for the Cally Clock Tower Centre, confirmed plans for monthly tours on the last Saturday of every month during lockdown alongside getting people back in a Covid-secure way.
The guides leading the tours are from Islington Guided Walks, who Ben described as being “instrumental in putting this together”.
There are some experiences that cannot be replicated online. For instance, counting the number of steps needed to climb to the top of the Tower is not possible.
“There are a lot of steps,” Ben said. “Our tour guides are sticklers for numbers and know the exact figure.” Ben counts 170 steps. However, he said he has “climbed [the Tower] a number of times but got a different number each time”.
On the other hand, Ben highlighted that the physical nature of climbing the Cally Clock Tower “leaves out a lot of people”.
“The virtual tours are great for people with disabilities and those who are afraid of heights.
“We would like to continue to have an online presence even when lockdown no longer exists.”
Ben envisions that they will continue offering online tours alongside in-person tours once it is safe to do so.
He said that the team are looking at broadening these sorts of tours to cover other historic buildings around the borough in future.
The next tour is scheduled for Saturday 27 March.
Additional reporting by Phil Webster.
