There are three things everyone needs to know about the big blue and white three-faced clock down in Bristol’s city centre.
The first is that it was put there on what was the HQ of the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company. The second is that while it might look like any old clock to you, it was considered quite innovative in its day.
The third is that if you were born in Bristol to Bristolian parents in the days when only posh people had telephones, it may well have played a vital role in your conception.
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No-one seems certain as to when it was installed, although 1896 is a strong contender as that’s apparently what it says on the clock’s movement.
The firm behind it was the Bristol clockmaking dynasty of Langford’s, a successful and publicity-savvy firm whose other achievements included bringing Greenwich Mean Time to Bristol via the electric telegraph – something that enabled them to literally sell the exact right time to various business customers around the city.
The dial on the clock was another Langford’s innovation. Its geometric design, which was used on a number of the company’s other clock faces around Bristol, enabled anyone looking at it to clearly see the time to a fraction of a minute – and from a distance. There was no need for a second hand.
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Doubtless this was a great convenience for all the domestic servants shivering at that part of the centre known in Edwardian times as “skivvies’ island” as they awaited transport to their workplaces in middle class homes around town.
Try it next time you’re passing (assuming it’s working).
The need for public clocks is fast fading, but it’s not so long since many of us would glance at it on our way around town. Now, though, many people don’t even bother wearing watches anymore because you can get the exact right time from your phone.
But back before most families even had a landline telephone in their homes, it was a handy landmark. Innumerable romances and marriages (OK, and maybe some divorces, too) started with an arrangement to “meet under the Tramways clock” – a handy central location, with good transport connections to all parts of the city.
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