Winder clocks off after 21 years

Mr Bagworth: 'It's very peaceful up here'

A church worker will be able to retire after more than two decades of service thanks to a lottery grant.

John Bagworth has climbed the tower of St Mary's Church in Maulden twice a week for the past 21 years to wind up the three mechanisms that power its clock.

But now the church has been awarded funds to convert the system so it is run on mains electricity.

Mr Bagworth told the BBC: "I shall be sad to see it electrified."

Clock-winding will be powered by electricity

Mr Bagworth took on the job for two weeks in 1981 - and never left.

But he said: "The time is coming, I know, when I shall have to give it up.

"I shall be sad to see it electrified because I quite enjoy the opportunity to come to church, to come up here.

"It's very peaceful and I get a lot of pleasure out of it."

It is calculated that Mr Bagworth has climbed no fewer than a quarter-of-a-million steps up to the tower during his years of duty.