Clock Tower

This guide to the Clock Tower in Montreal follows Daniel Pelletier, who has kept its clockwork alive since nineteen eighty-six, climbing one hundred ninety-two steps to nudge the hands by hand. It traces the tower back to a young port engineer named Paul Leclaire and the English clockmakers behind Big Ben, and to the Prince of Wales laying its cornerstone in nineteen nineteen as a memorial to Canadian merchant sailors. Stand at the base and look up before you start listening.