Having a ball Clocktime Digital Museum Director Dr Laura Young MBE recently visited the Cumbria Clock Company workshops in Dacre, near Penrith, Cumbria. The business, run by co-founders Keith and Lynn Scobie-Youngs, specialises in all aspects of work connected with public and church clocks. The friendly team of professionals is dedicated to the traditional skills of turret clock horology, a type of large, public clock, which were crucial for timekeeping in towns and monasteries before the advent of widespread accurate watches. The scope of work ranges from gems of small churches to the likes of Salisbury Cathedral to iconic structures, such as the Royal Liver Building Liverpool. Keith Scobie-Youngs graduated in Horology from Birmingham City University, then moved down to London and became a Clockmaker in the early 80s, but wages weren’t brilliant and he considered moving industry. Fortuitously, he met his wife, Lynn and she suggested that they set up their own business. They were just 26 years old, left London, headed for the Lake District and never looked back. Over 30 years later, they now manage a large team of over 20 skilled workers who look after some of the world’s most famous clocks, including their recent restoration work on Big Ben. Laura saw at first hand some very exciting and unusual repair work being carried out on the highly specialised Edinburgh Time Ball and operating mechanism. This is a wonderful machine by Maudslay, Son and Fields of Lambeth, who also made the time mechanism for Greenwich Observatory. The ball is constructed of wood, covered in zinc, and weighs 90 kilograms, which is 198 lbs, over 14 stone. Ordinarily, the time ball sits on the 32-metre-high Nelson Monument at Calton Hill, Edinburgh, an instillation first secured in 1853, by the second Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth. The tower, which resembles an upturned telescope, clearly visible from most areas of the city, was designed by the architect Robert Burn. The time ball was vitally important to ships in the port of Leith in adjusting their clocks for navigation, as it was raised and dropped exactly at 1 o’clock daily, a tradition that continues. Astronomers calculated the time at observatories and the innovatory time ball allowed ships' captains to set their chronometers from a distance. The sound of a gun firing was added on foggy days nine years after its launch. Edinburgh residents are looking forward to the restoration being completed and one of their most treasured landmarks restored to its original glory.
