The former Blackadder star and Time Team presenter Sir Tony Robinson explores inner workings of famous Royal Liver Building clocks in celebration of 110th anniversary.
Sir Tony Robinson joined the Royal Liver Building 360 tour to take up a rare and exciting chance to explore behind-the-scenes of the world-famous Royal Liver Building clocks.
The clocks are the largest electronically driven clocks in the UK and were started on June 22, 1911 at 1.40pm to coincide with the exact moment of the coronation of King George V and were therefore proclaimed to be called the Great George Liver Clocks.
They were designed by Gent & Co, a company who concepted and created a ‘waiting train movement’ mechanism for these clocks.
In November 1910 the clock face was used as the table for a banquet to celebrate British Engineering and the achievement of the construction.
In total, there are four clock faces on the two towers – three on the west tower and one on the east.
Alongside the clocks, which Mr Robinson visited as part of the RLB360 tour and experience attraction, he was also provided with a guided tour of the iconic building. The tour opened in 2018 and has since welcomed more than 35,000 visitors from across the world.
The much-loved historian and TV personality viewed a thrilling digital projection show that has been installed inside the historic clock tower with lights, sounds and digital effects. It is set to the backdrop of the ticking of the original mechanisms, bringing the history of the Royal Liver Building to life with a captivating tale of Liverpool’s past and how a city full of culture, sport, history and music has made its mark on the world and evolved into the city you see today.
Mr Robinson said:
“I was blown away by the RLB360 attraction – it is the best I’ve ever seen.
“I have always wanted history to be brought to life and that’s exactly what this does.
“There are rich tales to be told and as we take our next steps out of the Covid-19 pandemic, I highly recommend everyone come and see this brilliant architectural masterpiece with the stunning clock mechanisms on display as part of a superb audio-visual experience.”
The RLB360 visitor centre is free to enter, regardless of whether people tour the building and Mr Robinson spent time learning about the history of the Royal Liver Building here too.
