Clocks

[oldMohawk]

I had a quick 'clock search' through the forum to see how often that clock appeared in pics ...

A glimpse of the clock in the forum pic below. It seems demolition on the left of the Crown has started and the ornate brewery chimneys clearly show.

A nice peaceful pic of The Crown on Broad Street.

As you will have noticed there are two images the pub.

Broad Street the Tow Rope cafe

 

[ellbrown]

The Crown on Broad Street was like this around late 2009





Seen in 2010



Now part of the Reflex 80's Bar.

 

[Vivienne14]

Moving indoors, who remembers these ? A 1960s sunburst clock, a Westclox and a travel alarm clock. I remember having a travel alarm clock as a birthday present!! I loved it. Mine was red leatherette with a smooth folding mechanism. Don't know what inspired the gift - maybe my mum expected me to do a lot of travelling. My aunt had a sunburst clock and was regarded as a thoroughly modern homemaker. It had a loud tick. Viv.

 

[Phil]

I see no one has mentioned the very ornate clock that once stood in the Market Hall affectionately known to some as Percy's clock for the reason set out below. The two photos attached are one in it's original position in the Imperial Arcade and another over the Market Hall offices in the Bull Ring.

The clock that stood above the old market offices in the Bull Ring until it was bombed on the night of 25/26 August 1940 was affectionately known as “Percy’s Clock”.

The clock was built in 1883 by W. Potts of Leeds and was originally placed in the Imperial Arcade in Dale End. The dial was 5ft across and had an area of 18 sq ft. the four animate figures represented the Earl of Warwick, his wife, a retainer and a Saracen. The two inner larger figures were seven and a half feet tall.

In 1936 Percy Shurmer insisted that the clock which had not worked for about 20 years was repaired and moved to the Market Hall. So it was repaired, and renovated and duly installed above the market offices.

As stated it was bombed out of existence some four years later. At the time Percy demanded that after the war a similar type clock in the German city of Munich should be taken to replace it saying “They knocked ours to bits, lets have theirs to square it up”.

 

[Vivienne14]

I never saw Percy's clock, but if I had I know I'd have been fascinated by those figures around it. Would have enjoyed waiting for the figures to move. Must have fascinated many children tagging along with parents through the Market Hall. Hadn't fully appreciated the size of it. Looks almost as if the Market Office could barely support the weight of it.

Rosie and Nico - never heard of a 'grandmother' clock. We never had any heirlooms like that in our house. It wouldn't have been because there weren't any in the family, but my mum wouldn't have antiques in the house. She was like that all her life, always liked 'new' stuff. But one slight concession she made was a modern version of one of those clocks that sat under a glass done with swinging pendulums. The pendulums were hypnotic. For some reason these clocks became popular again in the 1970s.

Nico love the sound of your pea green clock. Sounds like a one-off. Viv.

 

[I Am Nico]

I never saw Percy's clock, but if I had I know I'd have been fascinated by those figures around it. Would have enjoyed waiting for the figures to move. Must have fascinated many children tagging along with parents through the Market Hall. Hadn't fully appreciated the size of it. Looks almost as if the Market Office could barely support the weight of it.

Rosie and Nico - never heard of a 'grandmother' clock. We never had any heirlooms like that in our house. It wouldn't have been because there weren't any in the family, but my mum wouldn't have antiques in the house. She was like that all her life, always liked 'new' stuff. But one slight concession she made was a modern version of one of those clocks that sat under a glass done with swinging pendulums. The pendulums were hypnotic. For some reason these clocks became popular again in the 1970s.

Nico love the sound of your pea green clock. Sounds like a one-off. Viv.

Thanks Viv, the pea green clock was very early 50's. My aunt's grandmother clock was on the wall, about 3 feet long or more about 2 feet wide with a big face and roman numerals, it came from the boys' home they used to run as she called it it wasn't actually an orphanage. Wish I still had the pea green one. We didn't have a lot of anything really just useful things not like now.

 

[Vivienne14]

We can't discuss clocks without talking about sundials can we? This is a beauty at St. Mary and St. Margaret's Church in Castle Bromwich. It's been restored, incredibly they found an earlier dial underneath the later one.


And here's the story of its restoration from www.buildingconservation.com




Viv.

 

[Dave M]

​Might have been posted before

 

[oldMohawk]

An unassuming clock in Easy Row but it was on the offices of the 'National Time Recorder Co' who made clocks which many of us probably looked at probably twice a day as we clocked in and out of factories and offices.

 

[Phil]

Three clocks all connected to New Street Station, one at the front on the façade of the Queens Hotel, one on the walkway through the station, and one at the rear of the station though you will have to be of a certain age to remember any of them. Just looking at the one on Station Street, wasn't the back end of New Street Station a bit of a mess?

 

[Vivienne14]

An unassuming clock in Easy Row but it was on the offices of the 'National Time Recorder Co' who made clocks which many of us probably looked at probably twice a day as we clocked in and out of factories and offices.
View attachment 102956

This was a branch office of the National Time Recorder Co, the main office being in London. But they exhibited at the British Industries in Birmingham (Castle Bromwich), from 15th to 26th February, 1937. Wonder if that clock ever in its lifetime showed the wrong time ?! Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

Three clocks all connected to New Street Station, one at the front on the façade of the Queens Hotel, one on the walkway through the station, and one at the rear of the station though you will have to be of a certain age to remember any of them. Just looking at the one on Station Street, wasn't the back end of New Street Station a bit of a mess?

The main New Street entrance clock in Phil's first photo post #113 seems so small for such an important entrance. Although maybe there wasn't enough wall space for a larger clock. Viv.

 

[Phil]

The main New Street entrance clock in Phil's first photo post #113 seems so small for such an important entrance. Although maybe there wasn't enough wall space for a larger clock. Viv.

Viv

The clock on the frontage of the Queens Hotel was obviously an afterthought as there is no sign of it on this earlier photo.

 

[Vivienne14]

Definitely an afterthought Phil. A building that size and position and with that purpose, why on earth did they not think to put a clock on it ?!! Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

Clocks go forward by one hour tonight

And a selection of nice Chad Valley clocks for you. I think the bottom two had pendulums. Viv

 

[oldMohawk]

In 1970 I bought a cuckoo clock in Nuremburg just at the time when a group had hijacked three airliners flew them to a Jordanian desert airstrip and destroyed them. Returning home airport security suddenly became very strict and they took the clock out of the box, had a look at it and gave it back to me in bits!

In the rush I could not pack the parts back into the box so dropped the lot into a plastic bag and boarded the plane. As I was going to my seat the bag split scattering parts all over the aisle with people pushing past as I searched for the parts. I got it home put the bits back together and it worked as it still does today. The little cuckoo has been 'cuckooing' for 45 years with an occasional squirt of WD40.

'vorsprung durch technik'

 

[rosie]

The Kings Head Clock has already got graffiti, it's such a shame after it was so beautifully restored.
rosie.

 

[oldMohawk]

I've had a search through this thread and can't see this clock. Apart from the photo tag saying it is in Aston I've no idea of it's location. There seems to be a chimney pot on top of the unusual building so presumably there was a fireplace in it. It has elaborate windows and a cupola on top ... was it an elaborate shelter for cabbies ?

 

[mikejee]

It was at Aston Cross, and I think wasused by the taxi drivers

 

[oldMohawk]

Thanks Mike perhaps it was larger inside than it looks !

 

[Vivienne14]

Yes, here's Bill Dargue's description. The image is from R.K. Dent's "The making of Birmingham" of 1894.

"A clock tower was erected on the site of the preaching cross to replace it. Standing three storeys high the tower was built of brick in the Jacobean style of Aston Hall.

However, by 1891 with the clock notoriously unreliable and the tower unstable, it was demolished and replaced by the present Aston Cross clock. This is set in a square cast-iron tower which is emblazoned with the Aston Board's coat-of-arms and a plaque commemorating the gift of the new clock by Lewis Richards, the chairman of Board".

Photos are below of the replacement clock which was moved some time ago from Aston Cros to the junction of Park Road and Tower Road. This clock is listed - listing details also attached below. Viv.




Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

There's nothing fancy about this clock on the corner of Birchall Street and Bradford Street. Unlike the Aston Cross clock with its elaborat ornamentation, this one is very functional. It looks about 1960s but it could be 1920s/30s. Hard to tell but there might be a hint in the fixings which look much earlier than the 1960s to me. Viv.

 

[ellbrown]

Clock on the Stirchley Public Baths building seen in January 2016. Now a community centre.

 

[Vivienne14]

This clock must be original on the Ivy Bush pub corner of Hagley Road and Monument Road. I'd guess the pub is mid-1800s and think the clock is probably around that date too. Viv.

 

[mikejee]

Sorry Viv, but , unless the clock was removed, stored and then put up again, it is not the original clock. See photo of 1963

 

[Vivienne14]

Pity Mike. Also the present clock doesn't seem to have been made to fit the shape of the curved wall either. I think it's a fairly old clock and expect it must have come from somewhere else. The clock on your 1969s photo is very ordinary but it looks like it was made to fit the wall shape. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

A very modest clock with no embellishment whatsoever. And it only has one face - very economical - but did the occupants of the building feel it's workers only arrived at work from one direction?!! It's on top of the FGF building in Shadwell Street. Not sure, but it looks to me that FGF came after the clock was erected on the building. The building and clock look about 1960s/70s. Viv.

 

[Radiorails]

https://www.fgfgroup.co.uk/fgf/location.htm
I wonder why there is only one face? Is the major part of the companys property out of view and the clock is visible to most workers there? Of course the nearest bus stop might be a black away and workers would know whether they were early, on time, or just plain late for work.
I once worked for a department store which had an upholstery workshop within its buildings. I think the f
Factories Act 1961 required a timepiece to be visible to employees. On the statutory FA 1961 wall poster of this workshop it stated that the nearby church clock - which was visible from the workshop windows (it was on the third (top) floor) was the timepiece. I guess. like most things drawn up by official bodies, they assumed everyone had 20/20 vision!

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Alan. And for agriculture workers on estates, large houses or their stables often had clocks. I expect they had chimes or striking mechanisms too.

In April this year the clock on Lightwoods House was returned to the pediment, now nicely restored and looking handsome. Extract from the Lightwoods Park site:


Lightwoods House took a step back in time last week as the turret clock returned to the front of the house fully restored and gilded. It has been re-installed in the pediment but won’t be in full working order until all of the electrical works have been completed in the house later on this summer.

The original clock was installed between 1902 and 1903 following the purchase of the park through public subscription and gifted to Birmingham City Council. Messrs Swinden & Sons contributed the clock to Lightwoods House as part of the improvements carried out at that time alongside the addition of the bandstand, fountains and pathways.

Swinden & Sons were watch and clock makers in Birmingham. Francis George Swinden, son of the founder was recorded as the Vicar’s Warden of St Mary’s Church in 1897. The Vicar of St Mary’s Church at this time was Henry Timothy Tilley, husband of Julia Tilley nee Adkins.

The clock has now been fully restored by Smith of Derby, the same company that restored the Kings Head clock that returned to Bearwood last year.

Viv.

 

[ellbrown]

New view of the clocks of Big Brum now visible thanks to the ongoing demolition of the ex Central Library.

Seen from the Discovery Terrace at the new Library of Birmingham.