In these brief histories of time, we will cross London in search of ways to track the passing of the days. So unwind, and spend a little time with Clog. These are walks when you won’t need to ask what the time is, because we will pass the time every now and then. Though I don’t guarantee either that all the clocks will be working or that there will be sun enough for sundials.
So expect sundials, clocks of all shapes and sizes, bells, and even a street where the night watchman used to tell the time on the hour. We will pass the randiest clock in Soho, follow a unique trail of 11 sundials, find where bells were made until this year, see Winston Churchill’s face in mid-clock, find the watchmaking district of London, and go to the home of time itself to discover why time is mean.
Some clocks do more than display the hours and minutes. The walks will be timed to take advantage. So expect bells that ring tunes, a couple of giants striking the quarter hours, and Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason doing their hourly exercise. Of course we will have to arrive on time to catch these moments.
The walks will normally begin between 6 o’clock and 7 o’clock, after the walk we may stay for a drink until a pub landlord calls ‘Time Please’.
More details for each walk, including meeting times and places, will come out a few weeks ahead of the walk, by email and on the calendar.
Dave
Provisional Timetable – dates and routes may well change:
The Times they are a-changing – newspapers over time – East from Temple Wed 5 April
Telling the time by bells and stars - Stepney Green to Liverpool St Tue 25 April
South London’s Sundial Trail – Forest Hill to Dulwich May
Time for a little luxury – Westminster to Marble Arch May
Clocks in the City – St Pauls to Tower Hill June
Station clocks and Railway time – Kings Cross area June
The home of time – Blackheath to Greenwich July
The clock and watch industry – Chancery Lane to Farringdon July
A riverside sundial sunset stroll – Richmond to Twickenham August
Imaginative timepieces – Oxford Circus to Temple August
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