Ringing the changes for summer time

Moving the clocks forward and back every spring and autumn is quite a task for staff at the British Horological Institute.

The clocks go forward On March 29, but those at the British Horological Institute, at Upton Hall, are changed the day before to prepare for one of the five days a year it opens to the public.

The institute, which caters for private viewings all year round, only opens to the public for the start and end of British Summer Time and for a three-day annual show in June.

The task of changing the clocks falls to Mr Alan Midleton, the curator and librarian. He said there were too many clocks to count, but he knew there were at least 200 alarm clocks alone.

The institute collection includes two speaking clocks, one of which was the first of its kind to be made and dates back to 1936.

Specialists are called in to move it forward an hour because it is a complex job.

Moving the clocks forward in the spring takes Mr Midleton around an hour. When they go back in the autumn it takes up to an hour longer because the mechanisms must always be moved forward.

“If it is a sounding clock and you turn the hands backwards, there is a fair chance you will do a lot of damage to the mechanisms that activate the sound,” said Mr Midleton.

Changing the clocks for British Summer Time was first proposed by Mr William Willett in 1907, when he published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight.

It was not until 1916, however, when Mr Willett had died, that it was introduced as a form of daylight saving. It was also a wartime production-boosting device under the Defence of the Realm Act.

In 1925, it became a permanent act of Parliament.

The debate continues about the value of altering clocks but around 70 countries worldwide use Daylight Saving Time.

Mr Midleton said modern timekeeping was very accurate, with most new watches losing only a couple of seconds a year.

“The first watch I ever had, when I was about eight, I had to check every day to see it was the right time,” he said.

“There was a fair chance it was a couple of minutes out.”

To mark the start of British Summer Time, the institute is launching a registration scheme for timepieces.

Its Registered Repairer Scheme allows people to have their clocks and watches checked to see if they need to be sent to a specialist for repairs.

The institute will be open to the public from 10am-4pm on March 29.

Information about the repairer scheme is available on 01636 813795, or by emailing info@bhi.co.uk