Target reached!
We are incredibly humbled and grateful to everyone who has helped us achieve our ini...
Fix the Flora Day Clock
Helston
Aim
Helston Museum want to fix the iconic Flora Day Clock, our Aim is to get it working in time for the people of Helston in time for Flora Day!
Project aim
Helston Museum want to fix the iconic Flora Clock, our Aim is to get it working in time for the people of Helston in time for Flora Day!
About Our project
For nearly 80 years, the Flora Day Clock, now situated in Helston Museum, has recreated the famous Flora or ‘Furry’ Dance. Originally built in the late 1930s by the owner of the Regent Hotel in the town, the clock has been through many incarnations, but is now in desperate need of bringing up to date. We are looking for money to refurbish the clock and its workings, digitise the music and make sure that this famous crowd puller lives on for many years!
You can see the clock during the 1940's by clicking this link
Helston’s Flora Day is famous throughout the country – an ancient annual tradition that sees the people of the town dance through the streets, following Helston Town Band. The dances begin at 7am on the morning of May 8th, and continue throughout the day. Also taking place is the ‘Hal-An-Tow’, a play celebrating the triumph of St.Michael over the devil, the coming of spring and the story of Cornwall’s patron saint, St.Piran.
The Hal-An-Tow and the dances are recreated through the moving figures on the clock, while the Flora Dance plays. Thousands of Helstonians and visitors to the town have enjoyed this amazing display over the last 80 years, but now it is up to YOU to make sure that it continues to delight future generations!
Helston Museum has been delighting and amusing the people of the town for almost as long – we’ve been in our present building since 1949 – and the Flora Day clock is one of our most popular exhibits. The museum is also an integral part of Flora Day, as the Midday Dance winds through the building, and past the clock!
Can you help us? We need to raise £1000 to completely refurbish the clock, its internal workings and update the mechanism controlling the dancers and the music. The work will be carried out by Sam Lanyon, a renowned British designer and technologist, and specialist in repair of automata, who is also based in Cornwall.
We would like to have the clock ready for this year’s Flora Day, so time is short! We thought that crowdfunder.co.uk would be an ideal way of raising the money we need as Flora Day is a unique event that brings the whole community together, and we are hoping that the community will also unite behind this campaign to revitalise a much loved and treasured symbol of Helston’s history and tradition.
This project successfully funded on 24th April 2015