Early Morning Wanderings

For reasons unknown to me, I've switched back (after a hiatus of at least two years, the onset of which I also never understood) to an early schedule - early to bed, early to rise - my routine for most of the past forty years, which has afforded the opportunity to get up and out of the house to catch the early morning light (and, have you ever noticed that everybody you meet on the street in the early morning hours - strangers and friends, alike - are quite forthcoming with a "hello" or some form of cheery greeting; not so much as the day progresses).

View from (Almost) the Top

As I've been documenting the festivities surrounding the Edgartown town clock tower's renovations these past two weeks, including the view from my upstairs windows one block away, I had a notion that it might be fun to go up there and grab a few photos. A few days ago the opportunity to speak with John Anderson, the foreman on the job, presented itself, so I asked if I could go up there with him sometime. He thought about it, carefully considering the ramifications and possible liabilities, and told me to come back at 7am Friday morning.

So, this morning - a clear and very windy autumn day following a few days of rain and drizzle - I got up at the crack of dawn, threw on my clothes, grabbed the camera and headed down Main Street. Was I really going to do this?



Stairway to the top. John told me, "Start up slowly while I grab a couple of things and I'll be right behind you." No problem, I thought. I fairly bounded up the first two levels (sporting the mandatory hard hat, of course), full of confidence (or at least faking it, brilliantly) but when I reached the second platform, the spirit was willing but my mind would not allow me to take another step (what had I been thinking, wanting to do this? I haven't been able to set foot on a Ferris wheel for decades). "That's okay," John told me, "we'll take the inside stairs."




          The final hatchway at the top of a series of stairs that leads into the bell tower. I had no problem climbing the stairs inside the church - I'd been up here before - once when we were kids, Bob Bassett (the keeper of the clock - now his son Tom has the job) brought us up here, and a few years ago when the bell was reinstalled after being refurbished, I made the climb to take a few photos of the bell.


Our beautiful town clock bell. The pulley wheel here is the work of John Anderson.


John makes a few adjustments on the ropes.  Here we get a peak through an opening in the shroud at the bell tower of St. Elizabeth's, with the steeple of the Federated Church in the distance. The shroud is here to both protect the public from falling debris, as well as to provide a visual shield for the workers, taking their minds off the fact that they are so high off the ground.


The rising sun and Edgartown Harbor in the distance.


A glimpse back into terra firma and safety. If you can call being several tens of feet off the ground terra firma.


Here we are just beneath the clock's southern face.

Why does this man not look scared? John told me that the reason he's so comfortable working at these heights is because he used to paint three-decker houses in Worcester, and in his younger years, he once spent time sailing on a barkantine that had a 120' mast, and he did manage to get at least 100' up the thing on more than one occasion. This sailing vessel, that eventually made its way to the Vineyard, is the reason John now lives on the island - "I'm literally a wash-ashore," he says.


A shiny new face.








Looking west. Had it not been for the shroud (and my nerves) we'd be able to see my house, and the window through which I view the clock every day. It was very windy up there. John said it would have been a very different experience without the wind. The whole time, he was assessing whether he and his men would work aloft on this day.


Here we have St. Elizabeth's in the foreground, town hall to the left, the steeple of the Federated Church in the distance, and a nice shot of the harbor.


Here, I'm a little braver, leaning out from the tower to get a better shot of Main Street (just kidding - it was only my camera that I stuck out past the shroud). But to tell you the truth, this photo actually makes me a little sick.


Inside again, headed back down. These are the stairs in the belfry. I assume they go up to the roof. No, I did not go up there. Next time.





The catwalk above the church's sanctuary.


The catwalk with the altar of the church below.


Old infrastructure.





The weather-beaten north-facing clock face, installed, John thinks, in 1947. Beneath this face was found what was probably the original face, dating back to the mid-1800s. 




Church Street.


"X" marks the level where we were standing (but around the corner, facing Main Street; not quite the top, but high enough for me).


Climbing to the tower was a real treat - thank you! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Clock Tower Renovations

Work has begun in earnest on the town clock tower. While the MV Preservation Trust owns the actual building - formerly known as The Beautiful Old Church of Whaling Days, also f/k/a The Edgartown Methodist Church, now known as The Old Whaling Church - the town owns and assumes responsibility for the upkeep and repair of the clock tower and the clock.

The clock, for obvious reasons, will be turned off for the duration, and its lovely bell - my sonorous hourly companion and time-keeper - will remain silent.



First, up goes the scaffolding.


This is no time to be waving to photographers - hold on with two hands up there!





Dizzying to watch.


Hanging ten, high above Edgartown.





My new view from the next block over.





The spires.


Marine grade plywood - rotten through; there's a lot of weather aloft, apparently.


Stairway to heaven.


John Anderson, chief renovator, takes charge of the lowering of the the tower parts.


Here it comes.














The lower sections of the spires. I assume Mr. Anderson will be replicating all of the tower parts in his shop, to be installed after the tower has been repaired, renovated, and re-painted.











Spireless.


"Does anybody really know what time it is?"