Machynlleth will be holding an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its historic clocktower, which was repaired last year at a cost of £55,000.

This summer Machynlleth will be taken back in time to the Victorian era with a series of displays, activities and talks, designed to be reminiscent of when the iconic clocktower was first unveiled in 1874.

The 150th birthday celebrations will be held on July 13, between 10.30am and 12.30pm, and will include a penny farthing riding along the high street and Dyfi Donkeys, as well as several displays in shops.

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The celebrations will follow a race against time in 2023 to repair the clocktower in time for its milestone birthday, as the mechanism had been motionless since September 2020.

The £55,000 repair job began in July 2023, taking several months to be completed and restore the 24-meter tall clocktower to full working order.

(Image: Machynlleth Town Council)

During the campaign to repair the device, town and county councillor Michael Williams said: “This clock is of huge importance to the people of Machynlleth and it would mean so much to see it working again, especially for a big event like marking 150 years since its construction.

“The clock was built using townspeople’s money. Stone was borrowed from surrounding areas like Wylfa, just to lay the foundations.

“The clocktower is as important to the history of this town as the railway is, it’s part of our collective heritage.”

The clock was built by the residents of Machynlleth to celebrate the coming of age of the eldest son of the Fifth Marquess of Londonderry, who lived at Y Plas, Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest.

Despite turning 21 in July 1973, a family bereavement postponed the opening of the clock until July 1974, when the foundation stone was laid.

According to writer and historian David Wyn Davies, who chronicled the history of the structure in his 2007 book ‘Machynlleth Town Clock’, in 1873 the cost of building the clock tower was roughly £1,000, which is the equivalent of over £80,000 today.

Mr Williams added: “The fact they were willing to pay so much for this tribute to a member of their family showed the high esteem the Fifth Marquess of Londonderry were held in.

“They were huge employers around the town, they were massively important to the development and population of Machynlleth in the years they were here and much of that impact can still be seen today, so the clock ticking again would be a constant reminder of that importance.”