THE unveiling of the John Hocken clock, an antique that the late Cllr Philip Lessels worked hard to bring back to Camelford, is now finally in its rightful place.

The clock, a Victorian, 18-hour, pine grandfather clock, was under the possession of a Launceston antique collector, Keith Hopper, who owns As Time Goes By in the town.

After finding the item on eBay, Cllr Lessels came to an agreement with Mr Hopper, vowing to raise £300 to pay for the clock and bring it back to Camelford, to sit in the Camelford History and Archive Trust’s Now and Then museum along Fore Street.

John Hocken was a 19th century clockmaker from Camelford, who lived at 62 Fore Street with his family, and worked in the town from around 1860 to 1900.

Passionate about bringing the clock back to ‘its spiritual home’, Cllr Lessels previously told the Post: “John Hocken was a clockmaker, who lived and worked in Camelford from 1860 to 1900. One of his clocks is in Launceston, and I want to bring it to its spiritual home, which is the museum in Camelford.”

As well as being a town councillor, Cllr Lessels was an active member of the community, and an avid historian. As chairman and founder of the Camelford History and Archive Trust (CHAT), Cllr Lessels hosted many exhibitions, including the highly praised Last Train to Camelford exhibition last year, which featured artefacts, photographs and memoirs from the days of the old North Cornwall railway.

After the Now and Then exhibition in October, followed by the remembrance exhibition in November, Cllr Lessels was hoping for the next big event for the museum to be the unveiling of the John Hocken clock, of which he dedicated a lot of his time to.

However, in April, the sad news broke out that Cllr Lessels had passed away, meaning he would not see the welcoming of the clock after the funds of £300 were raised.

To mark the occasion, and in memory of the town’s beloved CHAT founder, members of the trust recently held an unveiling of the newly refurbished Now and Then museum, as well as the John Hocken clock.

At the unveiling, Val Hopper, Philip’s wife, said: “Thank you for asking me to re-launch Now and Then, and to unveil the John Hocken clock. I am very honoured to be asked.

“Philip very much saw himself as an ‘ideas’ man — he had the innovative ideas and then he set about surrounding himself with those who could carry them out. I’m included in that too! The Now and Then museum and the CHAT group is a perfect example.

“So when the old museum just off Clease Road closed, following the retirement of Sally Holden who had run it for many years so magnificently, and when Philip was approached as someone who might be willing to organise what should be done with all the artefacts from the museum, I’m afraid there was just no stopping him! He was off!”

Reflecting on her husband’s work, Val said: “I think, arguably, his most brilliant idea in this connection was putting on the railway exhibition last October, just down the road in the Methodist church. This ran from Launceston all the way to Padstow, via Camelford and Wadebridge, with artefacts from the railways, a wonderful model railway layout depicting the Camelford Station and surrounds, Camelford Station platform tickets for entry, and a wealth of photographs showing the railway and stations along the North Cornwall line.

“His last brilliant idea was one he sadly did not see come to fruition. He discovered that a clock, which had been manufactured more than 120 years ago in Camelford by local clockmaker, John Hocken, was up for sale and he set about organising ways to raise the funds to purchase the clock and bring it back to Camelford. He would be so delighted that the clock is now in the museum. Keith has now mounted it in pride of place, and setting it ticking once again in Camelford.”

Visitors and local people can view the clock at the Now and Then museum between 10am and 2pm from Monday to Saturday.

Cllr Lessels previously said: “It’s almost strange that we came across the clock — I think it has been waiting for its time to come home.”