Dundee’s Wellgate Clock has been the tock of the town since 1978

Things were going bump in the night when the famous nursery rhyme clock was first installed at the Wellgate Shopping Centre 45 years ago.

Spooky things were happening in the shopping mall while clockmaker Peter Haward was putting the finishing touches to the timepiece on the Wellgate’s third floor.

The Courier reported “strange sounds and noises” were terrifying cleaning staff working between 9pm and 7.30am — so much so that one was armed with a large stick.

Police were called in to make a thorough search of the premises on August 22 1978 when a fire alarm suddenly went off and staff said they heard footsteps on the roof.

Officers drew a blank but were called back some 48 hours later, on August 24, when staff reported hearing voices from one of the lift shafts in an unoccupied part of the centre.

‘I see dead people’

Things got stranger.

Dundee spiritualist Alexander Johnston was holding his regular circle at his home at Bucklemaker Court when he “detected a supernatural presence in the Wellgate Centre”.

He went down to investigate and arrived at the same time as the police.

Johnston went all Sixth Sense and blamed the ghostly footsteps and wake-up calls from haunted fire alarms on two dead people with links to the Wellgate Centre project.

So the last thing jumpy cleaners probably wanted was the arrival of a prancing unicorn, a footman, a majestic lion, a monkey, perching bluebirds and a cat with a fiddle.

But that’s exactly what happened at the start of September 1978.

Nothing would be the same again.

The Courier stated: “The footman plays the clock’s signature tune — ‘Girls and boys come out to play’ — on hurdy-gurdy while the monkey turns on the top.

“The cat rotates and plays the fiddle, the unicorn nods its head and gallops, the lion wakes up, turns his head and looks at the clock each half-hour.

“On the hour he strikes a bell with his tale, which is the signal for illuminated scenes to appear and for appropriate nursery rhymes to be played.

“After the noon nursery rhyme, all 12 tune sequences are repeated, which takes some seven minutes.

“Animation takes place only between 9am and 8.45pm every day.”

The Wellgate Clock stopped people in their tracks when it first sprung into action, and, even today, 45 years on, folk still wander over for the 12 o’clock chiming.

And it’s not unheard of for the Wellgate Centre to have had requests for photos of the clock from Dundonian ex-pats living abroad.

Little wonder.

It was designed by Charles Anderson, whose work graced modern buildings such as shopping centres, swimming pools and office blocks as they appeared from the 1960s.

Anderson did all the artwork and made the figures for the Wellgate Clock, which all have a wood base, were built up with polystyrene, and thickly coated with fibreglass.

Enduring links between Wellgate Clock in Dundee and London and New York

It was built by renowned clockmaker Haward Horological Ltd of Ipswich and there’s a connection linking Dundee with London and New York which should ring a few bells.

The clock has nine bells, all of which were cast by the well-known Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, whose master founder started making bells as far back as 1420.

Big Ben was the largest ever cast — it weighs over 13 and a half tons, or 13,760 kilograms.

America’s Liberty Bell, at 907 kg, was shipped over the Atlantic in 1752.

The world’s heaviest change-ringing peal of 13 bells was cast in 1938/9 but, because of the Second World War, wasn’t installed until the 1950s, in Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral.

But Dundonians also have much to thank Whitechapel for.

The foundry made five bells for the town hall in the 1850s, and their bells were also installed at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Steeple and St Andrew’s Church.

So how popular was the Wellgate Clock in September 1978?

The Evening Telegraph said the magical awakening of the clock when it puts on its display of 12 nursery rhymes had proved an “irresistible attraction”.

Crowds would gather on the third floor to watch the animals spring into action, enthralling little ones who would patiently wait for their favourite nursery rhymes.

Little Bo Peep?

Pop Goes the Weasel?

This is what nostalgia sounds like.

Things were going like clockwork

The Wellgate Clock has not only functioned as a timepiece since September 1978 but also the perfect meeting point for pals, or couples on first dates.

The clock wasn’t the only spectacle the Wellgate Centre had to offer.

Among the biggest attractions inside the Wellgate was the illuminated fountain in the main entrance hall, which was unforgettable for generations of Dundonians.

Over 300,000 people a week were visiting the Wellgate.

The first anniversary of the Wellgate’s opening was marked on April 4 1979, when manager David Dwyer suggested things were going like clockwork.

“It is very pleasing that the citizens of Dundee have taken the building to their hearts and visit us regularly,” he said.

“We are hoping to build on our success in the future and we feel that things can only get better.”

They did.

Wellgate Clock a steadfast Dundee landmark for 45 years

From 1978 until the reopening of the Overgate Centre in 2000, the Wellgate was the main destination for shopping in Dundee.

Declining footfall during the 2000s saw the grey shutters being pulled down on many units, leaving gaping holes which the Wellgate has struggled to fill ever since.

The Wellgate Clock has remained a steadfast landmark and ticked on through the peaks and troughs and still stirs up magical memories of childhood for Dundonians.

One Dundonian summed up the magic of the mesmerising timepiece in a 2006 letter to the Evening Telegraph which will be echoed — even today — by so many locals.

“Three cheers for the Wellgate Clock,” she wrote.

“I recently spent an entire day in the Dundee shopping centre, admiring its appearance.

“I was so in awe of it that I had to be physically removed by security staff as they locked up for the night.

“My next move will be to contact the Wellgate management so I can arrange 24-hour viewing.”

Who could blame her?

Time moves slowly but passes quickly.

But, 45 years on, the Wellgate Clock is still the tock of the town.

Happy birthday.