Ingersoll

The photo below is of an Ingersoll wrist watch I picked up on eBay. The watch was made in Great Britain, has 7 jewels and has a lever escapement. The movement is a calibre 602 (Thin Line). It is a fairly well made watch considering it was made for low cost mass production. It was manufactured in the early 1960s.

A slightly battered Ingersoll wrist watch, but it still runs!

Calibre 602, 7 jewel movement

Here's another Ingersoll movement. It's a Swiss made calibre 1229 which uses a pin-pallet escapement which is less expensive (and less accurate) than a lever escapement.


The Ingersoll company was started in 1880 in New York by the brothers Robert and Charles Ingersoll. They set up a mail order company specialising in selling items at $1. In the mid 1890s they started selling pocket watches for a dollar, creating the advertising line: 'Ingersoll - the watch that made the dollar famous'.

After the wall street crash in 1929 Ingersoll Ltd was launched as a British company, then after the Second World War it joined with Smiths Industries Ltd and Vickers Armstrong creating the Anglo-Celtic Company Ltd. Ingersoll Ltd pulled out of the venture in 1969.

Smith's Electric Clock

The clock below is a Smith's electric clock. The wording on the clock face is "SMITH SECTRIC" which Smith's started using in 1937.

The clock is mains driven and uses a synchronous motor. The mains frequency is used for the timing which made the clock very accurate for it's time (within one minute per day).

Another interesting thing about this clock is it's made of Bakelite. Bakelite was invented in the early 1900s and was the first synthetic plastic.

Smith's Electric Clock made of Bakelite - made c1940? (I struggled to take this photo without too many reflections)

Synchronous motor

Reference: www.smiths-clocks.co.uk

Meccano Clock Kit #2

I started assembling this Meccano clock kit a few months ago but got distracted so I put it away for a rainy day. Today it's raining.

The clock is entirely mechanical - it uses a pendulum for timing, weights for driving the clock and has a striking movement to chime the hours.

The construction of the clock follows these steps:

• build the frame - I've already done this
• timing movement - I've built it, but I'm struggling to get the timing correct
• driving units - done
• striking movement - not started

This Mecanno kit was released by Meccano in 1974.

Partly assembled Meccano Clock Kit #2

Side View of the clock. The yellow wheel is the escape wheel - it powers the pendulum and controls the release of energy from the driving mechanism by locking and unlocking (that makes the tick go tick-tock).

The instruction booklet - Chiming Clock Assembly Kit. 2

The 'instructions'

Caterham Roundabout Clock

I took the following photos of a clock on a roundabout in Caterham (Surrey, UK). The clock was paid for by local Rotary Clubs to mark the centenary of Rotary International and it was made by Gillet & Johnston of Croydon.

Caterham sport cars were originally built in Caterham. The company was founded in 1973, but in 1987 they moved to a new factory in Dartford, Kent.

Talking about cars, I almost had an accident about 10 minutes after stopping to take the photos. There was black ice on the road and a car coming the opposite direction lost control and ended up on my side of the road, luckily I managed to avoid them.

7:45 am in Caterham town center - it's just getting light

Rotary International 1905 - 2005

Location: 51°16'55.96"N 0° 4'38.27"W

Cufflinks

Here are some photos of my cufflinks. I took all the photos in macro mode with my Panasonic DMZ-FZ8 camera. Actually all the photos on this blog have been taken with the same camera.

Quartz watch cufflinks - dual time

Sand timer cufflinks

Chess cufflinks - pawn and knight

My favourite cufflinks - 1935 Six Pence

Hourglass

I had been looking for an hourglass for a long time but had not been able find one. Then a few years ago I walked into a busy shop in Bath (Gloucester) that had one hourglass on display. I immediately grabbed it not believing my luck. After looking around the shop for about half an hour I paid for the hourglass and as the shop attendant was wrapping the hourglass she casually mentioned "Did you see the hour glass in the window?". What I had just bought was a half hourglass.

The shop assistant kindly fetched the hourglass from the window for me - I had no idea an hour glass was so big. It was 31cm high with a diameter of 17.5cm. The biggest sand timer I had ever seen was an egg timer! I was embarrassed but asked to exchange the half hourglass for the full one hour hourglass.

Chess Clock

My father gave me the BHB chess clock in the photo below about ten years ago and he had it for many years before that. The back of the clock has the text "Made in West-Germany" which suggests it was manufactured before the reunification of Germany in 1990.

A chess clock has two clocks allowing one clock to run while the other is stopped. The two buttons at the top of the clock stop one clock and start the other. The idea is that the clocks record the total amount of time each player has taken for their chess moves. If either player exceeds an agreed amount of time they will automatically lose the game.

The chess pieces on the board below are replicas of the Lewis chessmen. Ninety-three chess pieces were discovered on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland in 1831. They are believed to be from the mid-twelfth century and are made from carved walrus ivory. Currently they are in display in the British museum and eleven pieces are on display in the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.

Margate Clock Tower

The Margate Clock Tower is on the sea front in Margate. It was built 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The tower has 5 bells which were replaced in 1908 by Gillett & Johnston (from Croydon).

It was starting to get dark when I took this photo (3:40pm), and the weather was pretty bleak - I'm sure this clock tower will look lovely in bright sunshine.

I took this photo from 'Marine Gardens' which date back to 1818 (the clock tower is to the left in the photo). The garden was refurbished in Spring 1997 to restore the historic elements of the garden. As in the photo above it was getting dark so the photo looks rather dull.

While in Margate I also visited a shop called 'JunkDeluxe' (www.junkdeluxe.co.uk). They had a large selection of old (mostly broken) clocks. Some mantle piece clocks were being sold for as little as £10, but they would need a lot of attention to get them working again. There was a interesting cuckoo clock but it had a 'sold' sign on it. I resisted the temptation to buy anything!

Location: 51°23'13.41"N 1°22'43.12"E

Herne Bay Clock Tower

This local well known Victorian landmark is located on the town's seafront. The tower was built in 1837 and was presented to the town of Herne Bay as a gift from Ann Thwaytes (she was a wealthy landlady).

According to Wikipedia the 23m clock tower was the first free standing clock tower in the world.

The following is carved into a stone on the clock tower:
'The Gift of Mrs Ann Thwaytes to this town 11 Oct AD MDCCCXXXVII'

Herne Bay is located in Kent (UK) and is close to Canterbury.

I took the photos today at 12:15pm, but as you can tell from the photos the winter afternoon shadows are already creeping in. Still, it was a lovely bright day if not a little cool at 9 degress celcius.

12:16pm - Herne Bay Clock Tower

Afternoon shadows moving in on a crisp cool day, but the view was lovely.

Location: 51°22'22.66"N 1° 7'34.82"E (click the link to see the location on Google's satelite maps)

All Saints Benhilton, Sutton

All Saints Benhiton is located in All Saints Road, North Sutton (Greater London). It is a grade 2 listed building built in 1866. The style of the church is Gothic Revival and the architect was JS Teulon.

The clock tower has three clocks. First photos shows the west facing clock.

North and West facing clocks

North facing clock at 12:44pm

Here is some more information about the church: http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1293

Location: 51°22'21.64"N 0°11'36.18"W
Address: All Saints Road, Sutton, Surrey, UK, SM1 3DA

St Nicholas, Sutton

St Nicholas is an Anglican church. It is located on St Nicholas Way in Sutton, Greater London. The church is in the town center but slightly hidden, and being surrounded by trees makes it very difficult to photograph.

The church has three clocks on the tower and they look pretty old. One of the clocks has recently had it's hands painted gold. All three clocks showed the correct time.

The church was designed by the architect Edwin Nash and built in 1864.

The photo above shows the west facing clock.

The photo above shows the west and south facing clocks. The south facing clock's hands have been painted gold. There is no east facing clock.

This photo shows the North facing clock.

A plaque is on the church with the following text:

Heritage in Sutton
St Nicholas Church
The medieval church was replaced in 1864 by Edwin Nash's Victorian Gothic building. Monuments from the old church include those to Joseph Glover, rector, who introduced the printing press to New England c1838; Dorothy, Lady Brownlow, 1699 (an important monument concealed by the organ); and William, 1st Earl Talbot, 1782.

stnicholas.org.uk is an unofficial website about St Nicholas Church.

Location: 51°21'45.30"N 0°11'42.53"W

Thornton Heath Clock Tower

Thornton Heath is part of the borough of Croydon. The Thornton Heath Clock Tower was built in 1900 and is located on the intersection of Brigstock and Parchmore Roads.

I had to wait quite a while to get a photo without any cars in the road - it was very busy for a Sunday, then I got stuck in traffic when leaving Thornton Heath.


The advert on the railing "Boot Fair Today Football Stadium" is referring to Crystal Palace Football Stadium which is close by. I don't know much about football but Crystal Palace Football Club is quite famous.

Location: 51°23'56.31"N 0° 5'54.65"W (Thornton Heath, Croydon, Greater London, UK)

South Norwood Clock Tower

The South Norwood Clock Tower was built in 1907 for the golden wedding anniversary of William Ford Stanley. The clock was paid for by the public as a tribute to all Stanley's contributions to South Norwood.

The Clock Tower is just a short walk from Norwood Junction train station and is located on the High Street.


Location: 51°23'53.43"N 0° 4'36.39"W

Selsdon Clock

The Selsdon Clock is located in South Croydon on Addington Road on a traffic island (across the road from Salisbury's).

The clock, designed by John Mills, was unveiled in February 2007. It has three faces and is made of steel. Apparently the near by Selsdon wood inspired the tree like design of the clock.

In this photo you can see two of the clock faces. I took the photo just after 8am so it is still quite dark and you can still see all the ice on the ground. Sainsbury's is directly behind me. I believe Sainsbury's funded the clock.

Location: 51°20'34.58"N 0° 3'46.78"W

Merstham Millennium Clock

I took the photos below in Merstham on the High Street this morning. The time was 7:37am and the temperature was freezing.

Merstham is a village north of Redhill in Surrey (UK). It was used as a stone quarry from the Romans times until the mid 1800s.

Location: 51°15'48.59"N 0° 9'7.45"W

Rotary Armillary, Sutton

I took the following photo of an armillary in Sutton town center, in the London Borough of Sutton, UK. The armillary is located on the corner of the pedestrianised High Street and Hill Road (close to Waterstone's). The armillary was presented by Rotary to Sutton in December 2000.

It's definitely not the prettiest armillary I've seen - it's very plain. I took the photo at 1:35pm but you can't see the time being displayed since the armillary was already in the afternoon shade from the buildings next to it.



The following text is on the plaque below the armillary:

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[Rotary International Logo]

"Service Above Self"

Rotary Armillary

This Armillary was presented to the people of the London Borough of Sutton in grateful thanks for their generosity in supporting Rotary Charities and to mark the new Millennium.The Rotary Club of Cheam has joined with the Rotary Clubs of Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Sutton, Sutton Nonsuch and Wallington.

December 2000

The Project was made possible by the following Sponsors:

Securicor plc.
Holiday Inn Sutton London
The Crown Agents
South Sutton Neighbourhood Association
Sutton & Cheam Society
The London Borough of Sutton

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Location: 51°21'43.16"N 0°11'33.95"W