Master Clock

London Zoo Clock

2012-01-22T00:11:00.006Z

The clock stands outside the aviary in London Zoo. Every half hour the clock 'strikes' and it comes to life putting on quite show as little metal birds appear and disappear, some flying in circles around the clock. When I arrived at the clock there was already a crowd of people waiting for the 'show'. All the movement in the clock is controlled by pneumatics. The clock was built and designed by Tim Hunkin.

London Zoo Clock, by Tim Hunkin, 2008

Clock outside the aviary at London Zoo (located in the north section of Regents Park)

Behind the clock.
The photo is a bit dark but note the green bird (with cable attached) to the left in the photo.

The little blue bird popped out of the hat and then later went back into it

Toucan pecking the pendulum to keep it moving.

More information: http://www.timhunkin.com/a136_zoo-clock.htm

Globe Sundial: London Zoo

2012-01-15T23:20:00.004Z

Here's some photo's I took earlier today in London Zoo showing the Globe Sundial designed by Wendy Taylor in 1989:

"This Globe Sundial shows in miniature how the Earth is bathed in sunlight. Time is indicated by the fin which casts the least shadow. The combination of the tilt of the earth's axis and the varying speed of its progress on an elliptical path around the sun causes a difference between the time shown and mean time of up to 16 minutes. The greatest differences occur in February and October."

Shepherd Gate Clock - Greenwich

2011-10-09T22:41:00.005+01:00

The Shepherd Gate Clock is located on the outside-wall of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, UK. It is a 24 hour electric clock and was probably the first clock to show Greenwich Mean Time to the public. The clock is known as a slave clock, displaying the time from the master clock inside the observatory. Signals are received from the master clock as electrical impulses.

View from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich

Shepherd Gate Clock - displaying GMT time

The time on the clock was 16:45 (GMT time), but the time on my watch was 17:45 (BST - British Summer Time). Talking about BST, the clocks will go back the GMT time on Sunday 30th October.

Charles Shepherd installed the clock in 1852

PS Greenwich Park (visible in the first photo) will be used for the London 2012 Olympic Equestrian events.

Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe, Folkstone

2011-09-03T22:43:00.005+01:00

Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe Church is located in Folkstone, Kent. King Eadbald of Kent founded the Folkstone priory in 630AD for his daughter Eanswythe and her nuns.

Saint Mary and Saint Eanswythe Church.

It is believed that the remains of Eanswythe were buried here. She was later canonised as Saint Eanswythe.

Hammersmith Clocks

2011-08-05T23:59:00.001+01:00

I took the following photos while walking through the town centre of Hammersmith this afternoon:

Hammersmith Station

Hammersmith Station Clock

Broadway Shopping Centre

Broadway Shopping Centre Clock

St Paul's Church

St Paul's Church Clock

Inside Hammersmith Bus station

Hammersmith Bus station clock

Bus Stop

Bus stop clock

Can you spot the clock above Belushi's Bar (28 Hammersmith Broadway)?

Clock above Belushi's Bar

As I was walking past St Paul's church an elderly lady grabbed my arm and asked 'are you going straight?'. I responded 'yes' as politely as a I could wondering where her ambiguous question was leading. She then said to me 'you must go straight home and have a shave'. Okay I was sporting my 'designer stubble' look so I guess I see her point. Then she said 'have a glass of water, have some food, read some versus from the bible and go to bed.' Sound advice I suppose ;)

Blythe House, Hammersmith

2011-08-04T23:50:00.000+01:00

Blythe House, in Hammersmith (West London), is the old headquarters of the Post Office Savings Bank. Now it is used as an archive by the Victoria and Albert museum. The building is grade II listed and was completed in 1903.

Blythe House Clock

23 Blythe Road, Hammersmith, London W14 0QX

Blythe House is located very close to Kensington Olympia train station.

The archive consists of the following 4 units:

the Archive of Art and Design
the Beatrix Potter Collections
the V&A Archive
the V&A Theatre and Performance Archive

More information: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/

Regus - No. 1 Poultry

2011-07-26T00:30:00.001+01:00

Regus No. 1 Poultry is a contemporary building in the City of London. The building is close to the Bank of England, Lloyd's of London and diagonally across the road from the Royal Exchange.

Regus Clock at No.1 Poultry, London, EC2R 8JR

Regus - No. 1 One Poultry

View of No. 1 Poultry from the Royal Exchange

Flip Clock

2011-07-16T09:18:00.003+01:00

Analogue flip wall clock

The movement of the flip clock.

The gear train (white plastic gears) drives the two main axles shown in the photo. The hour axle rotates once in 24 hours and the minute axle once in an hour. The solenoid (the metal bar with copper wire tightly wrapped around it) generates a magnetic field when current is passed through it. The direction of the current is then alternated causing the the magnetic field to keep changing direction, which causes a small magnetised wheel in the clock to rotate - which drives the gear train.

Damaged pivot gear

The clock had stopped running and on close examination of the above photo you can see why. The pivot gear has split and can no longer drive the next gear in the gear train.

PS This clock belongs to Rob at http://www.eye-wear-glasses.com/

Starbucks - Gracechurch/Eastcheap Street

2011-07-14T00:01:00.002+01:00

Starbucks clock on the corner of Gracechurch and Eastcheap Street, City of London, EC3

St Mary Le Bow Church Clock

2011-07-13T12:34:00.001+01:00

St Mary Le Bow was founded in or close to 1080. It is located in Cheapside Street, City of London (EC2).

St Mary Le Bow Church Clock

More information: http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/#/history/4535373215

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church Clock

2011-07-13T00:30:00.001+01:00

St Sepulchre’s also known as the National Musicians’ Church has a history dating back to the 12th Century.

The church is located at the junction of Holborn Viaduct and Giltspur Street, City of London, opposite the Old Bailey.

More information: http://www.st-sepulchre.org.uk/church_history.html

Georges, Hatton Garden

2011-07-11T02:40:00.001+01:00

Jewellery, Engagement Rings, Watches
Georges of Hatton Garden 88-90

Georges was founded in 1840. It is located in Hatton Garden, Clerkenwell, London.
Hatton Garden is London's centre for the diamond trade.

King Henry VIII Gate

2011-07-08T00:10:00.002+01:00

King Henry VIII Gate is the main entrance to St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield in the City of London. The hospital was founded in 1123 and is the oldest surviving hospital in England.

The King Henry VIII Gate, constructed in 1702.
The statue of King Henry VIII above the gate is apparently the only outdoor statue of him in London.

The clock above The King Henry VIII Gate. The clock does have 2 hands, I just happened to take the photo when the hands were over lapping.

St Andrew Holborn Church Clock

2011-07-05T01:15:00.002+01:00

St Andrew Holborn was rebuild by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire in 1666. During WWII the church was bombed and gutted, but was restored “stone for stone and brick for brick” and reopened in 1961.

St Andrew Holborn

The photo was taken from St Andrew Street (EC4)

St Andrew Holborn Clock on St Andrew Street (EC4)

St Andrew Holburn church - photo taken from Holborn Viaduct street

St Andrew Holborn clock on Holborn Viaduct Street (EC1)

More information: http://www.standrewholborn.org.uk/

Smithfield Market Clock

2011-07-01T21:46:00.001+01:00

This colourful clock is located in Smithfield Market, in the City of London:

Smithfield Market Clock

Grand Avenue in the City of London (EC1). The street runs through Smithfield Market. Note the clock hanging from the ceiling.

Smithfield Market, also known as London Central Markets, is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK. The market consists of three Grade II listed buildings. The Thameslink Railway runs underneath the market.

Slough Clocks

2011-06-30T21:42:00.004+01:00

I took these photos earlier this week during a visit to Slough, unfortunately I was rushed for time so I only managed to photograph a few of Slough's clocks.

Slough is located west of London and is a 15 minute train journey from Paddington Station. The town centre is undergoing a major redevelopment. My walk from the station to my meeting was a maze of diversions around many different construction sites. I'm sure it will be 'amazing' when complete!

Slough Station

Slough Station Clock - the time was wrong. I took the photo at 9:38am but the clock shows 6:40am!

Slough Town Hall

Town Hall Clock, this clock was also showing the incorrect time. The time was 9:55 but the clock showed 10:05 am.

Kashmiri Karahi restaurant.
The restuarant is an authentic pakistani restaurant situated in Salthill park in Slough.

Kashmiri Karahi restaurant clock- also with the incorrect time.

University of West London

University of West London Clock. Again with the incorrect time. The two clock faces visible here both show a different time, and again both clocks are wrong!

I have no idea what clock this is. I spotted the clock in the distance and took a photo. (also has the wrong time)

I have a theory: the more clocks an area has the wealthier it is. This certainly holds true for the city of London. In the square mile of the city I've never seen so many clocks, and most of them work!

Slough's Town centre has it's fair share of clocks, all though a number of them have the wrong time :(

Maybe with a bit of research I'll be able to come up with a graph mapping a city's wealth to the number of working clocks :)

Abbots Court Clock, Farringdon Lane

2011-06-30T20:40:00.006+01:00

Abbots Court Clock, Farringdon Lane, London

Abbots Court, Farringdon Lane, EC1R 3AX - The home of Maxwell Stamp PLC

'Maxwell Stamp is one of the world's leading international economics consultancies Established in 1959, we have over 45 years of experience in over 165 countries and territories.' quoted from: http://www.maxwellstamp.com

85 Clerkenwell Road, London

2011-06-30T20:19:00.006+01:00

85 Clerkenwell Road, London, was originally build as a warehouse in the mid 1800s. It has a complete refurbishment planned for this year - I hope they leave the clock!

85 Clerkenwell Road, EC1

Clock at 85 Clerkenwell Road - it looks like it could feature in a Mad Max movie!

The building is owned by Endurance Land and GE Real Estate.
More information: http://www.enduranceland.com/property/clerkenwell-road/

Paddington Station Clock, London

2011-06-30T01:15:00.004+01:00

Paddington Station Clock - at 9:05am. The Train in the photo was delayed by over 20 minutes!

Paddington Station, Platform 1

I took these photos on Tuesday at Paddington Station. The first photo was taken from platform 2, and the second photo shows platform 1 - taken out of the window of the delayed train on platform 2.

Revendezvous Road Clock, Folkestone

2011-06-21T23:53:00.003+01:00

Clock above the Prince Albert Hotel

Prince Albert Hotel Clock

Dover Road Clock, Folkestone

2011-06-21T23:49:00.004+01:00

Atlas House Clock

2011-06-16T22:45:00.006+01:00

This is Atlas House in the City of London on the corner of King and Cheapside streets. The double faced clock overhangs Cheapside Street. Above the clock is Atlas supporting the world on his shoulders.

Atlas House

Atlas clock, with Atlas holding the world on this shoulders.

The building is Georgian, designed by the English Architect Thomas Hopper and was completed in 1836. The original owner I believe was the Atlas Assurance company, now it is the home of Barclays Bank.

House of Fraser City Clock

2011-06-14T16:54:00.005+01:00

'House of Fraser' Clock in the City of London

I took this photo after crossing over London bridge (heading north). This is the London City branch of the House of Fraser on King William Street. It is a premium departmental store with 61 stores in London and Ireland.

London Waterloo Train Station Entrance Clock

2011-06-12T22:00:00.003+01:00

Main entrance to London Waterloo train station

Close-up photo of the clock

London Waterloo Train Station Clock

2011-06-11T23:37:00.004+01:00

The traditional meeting point at London Waterloo Train Station is under the four faced clock which is hanging in the middle of the station concourse. There are 19 platforms!

The station concourse looks small from the angle I took this photo, but the concourse also extends a long way behind me. There were relatively few people at the station (11:20am on a Saturday). On a weekday during rush hour the station is packed.