Time flies!

 

I’ve just written a piece about time pieces for the Mass Observation Archives so I thought I would share some of my memories with you.

 I remember the first watch which I owned.  It was an Ingersol watch on a brown leather strap and was bought by my parents for my birthday soon after I started at Grammar School.  I have no idea what happened to it, but I was very proud of it.

When I was a young woman there were lots of “public clocks”.  There were clocks on display in shops, offices and business places and one could see them while shopping or going about one’s business.  There are still public clocks in railway stations and there’s one on the local council offices but I don’t know of any newish buildings which incorporate an external clock.  It used to be very handy to be able to glance at a clock.

When I was a vicar, one of my churches had a clock.  It was a brute and someone had to climb up a ladder in the tower to wind it.  It was known as the vicar’s clock but no way was I climbing up there.  Church clocks that strike the hours are sometimes known as “the vicar’s pager” but I don’t remember that one being so called. 

 There’s a house about eight miles from here known as “Clock House” as it has a clock above the front door.  It’s really rare to find a clock on the outside of a house.  That house is Victorian.  It stands on a rural road junction known locally as Clock House Corner.  I have passed Clock House regularly for most of my life but I don’t think I have ever seen the clock showing the right time!