A message from Clocktime's creator Good morning As the month turns to November, I’m reminded of my birthday on the 25th and amused to see so many photographs of early British clocks showing this date on the Clocktime website. I’ve built up the collection of images over the last decade and I’m delighted to share these, along with videos, to clock and watch enthusiasts. We’ve been particularly busy with the Collection over the weekend, when the clocks changed. In the autumn, I simply stop the clocks and because there are so many of them, by the time I’ve completed this, it’s usually the appropriate time for my Keeper Carl Albrigt and I to go back to the beginning and restart them. When you move the mechanism around, you have to wait for the clock to chime at the appropriate time (some each quarter), so it can take a while to move on 11 hours. After stopping them all, if they aren’t already on the hour, it is still much quicker to just move them on the extra minutes. It’s interesting how many people don’t notice when clocks on display are stopped, or run at the incorrect time. I’m glad that Clocktime shows all of the timepieces running. You will find some of the answers to how we achieved this in today’s newsletter. Reading the stories here reminds me that clocks and watches are all about people. Yes, they are works of art but unlike static objects they need to be maintained, looked after or even restored in order to work. They need a team to keep ticking. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by the best in the wonderful world of clocks, watches and even the odd sundial. Dr John C Taylor OBE FREng
