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BREAKING: Old Joe is chiming again

We were starting to worry!

campus news old joe the university of birmingham university of birmingham

After months of silence, Birmingham's record breaking clock tower is finally telling the time again.

The tallest free standing clock tower, a beloved feature of the Birmingham campus, has been broken since February.

This afternoon, the clock finally started to tick and after months of silence, chimed once more.

In early February, students noticed that Old Joe was chiming at the wrong time. The clock tower's pendulum was found to have stopped between 40 and 50 minutes past the hour.

In early March it was discovered that the clock's mechanisms were broken and had to be replaced. The replacement has taken almost two months.

It is a long standing Birmingham tradition that graduates run under Old Joe as he bongs after officially graduating. The myth goes, those who pass under the clock on the hour will fail their degree, so graudates wait until they have the piece of paper in their hand to run.

It was feared that many graduates would not be able to fulfill this age old tradition, but luckily Old Joe is back and better than ever!