Clock Tips

‘My Grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor… …And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.’

Do you remember that song? The grandfather clock actually exists and the story it tells is a true one. In fact, it’s how the grandfather clock got its name.

The George Hotel is a 16th century coaching inn on the banks of the River Tees in Piecebridge, North Yorkshire, England.

In the late 19th century, the George Hotel was managed by the Jenkins brothers, a couple of bachelors. In the hotel lobby stood a long case clock which could always be relied on to keep good time.

Sadly, one of the brothers died suddenly and the clock began to lose time – at first just 15 minutes a day, then up to an hour a day and no clockmaker could repair it. The locals thought it no coincidence that when the other brother died at the age of ninety, the long case clock stopped, never to go again.

The hotel’s new manager left the clock exactly as it was in the lobby and in 1875 a visiting American songwriter heard the story of this amazing coincidence and came to the George Hotel to see the clock for himself. He told the story in a song and Henry Clay Work’s lyrics were published when he returned to America. Over a million copies of the song sheet, ‘My Grandfather’s Clock’ were sold.

And that’s how the grandfather clock got it’s name.

The George Hotel still stands on the banks of the River Tees in Piecebridge, North Yorkshire and offers reasonably priced accommodation. It has four poster beds, a bar and restaurant and an inglenook fireplace. It is a convenient base for exploring the North Yorkshire Moors and the Dales, as well as being a living piece of grandfather clock history.

My Grandfather’s Clock

By Henry Clay Work

Copyright unknown

My Grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor. It was taller by half than the old man himself, Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.

It was bought on the morn of the day he was born, It was always his treasure and pride, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro, Many hours he spent as a boy. And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know, And it shared both his sorrow and joy.

And it struck twenty-four when he entered the door, With a blooming and beautiful bride, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Ninety years without slumbering, tick, tock, tick, tick, It’s life seconds numbering, tick tock, tick, tock, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

My Grandfather said that of those he could hire, Not a servant so faithful he found. It wasted no time and it had one desire, At the end of the week to be wound.

And it stayed in its place, not a frown upon its face, And it’s hands never hung by it’s side, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Now it rang an alarm in the still of the night, An alarm that for years had been dumb. We knew that his spirit was pluming in flight, That his hour of departure had come.

Still the clock kept its time with a soft and muffled chime, As we silently stood by his side, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

Ninety years without slumbering, tick, tock, tick, tick, It’s life seconds numbering, tick tock, tick, tock, And it stopped short, never to go again, when the old man died.

About the author:

The author is a lover of grandfather clocks and will one day inherit her great-great grandfather’s long case clock. She hopes it doesn’t stop when its current owner dies.

Written By: Rita Preece

Louis Essen was born in 1908 in a small city in England called Nottingham. His childhood was typical of the time and he pursued his education with enjoyment and dedication. At the age of 20 Louis graduated from the University of Nottingham, where he had been studying. It was at this time that his career started to take off, as he was invited to join the NPL, or National Physics Laboratory.

It was during Louiss time at the NPL that he began working to develop a quartz crystal oscillator as he believed they were capable of measuring time as accurately as a pendulum based clock. Ten years after joining the NPL Louis had invented the Essen ring. This was an eponymous invention which took its name from the shape of the quartz which Louis had used in his latest clock and which was three times more accurate than the previous versions.

Louis soon moved on to newer areas of research and began to study ways to measure the speed of light. During World War II he began to work on high frequency radar and used his technical ability to develop the cavity resonance wavemeter. From 1946 it was this wavemeter which he used, along with a colleague by the name of Albert Gordon-Smith, to make his lightspeed measurements. It has been acknowledged recently that Louiss measurements were by far the most accurate to have been recorded up until that time.

During the early part of the 1950s Louis began to take an interest in research which was being carried out at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in the United States of America. He learnt that work was being carried out to invent a clock which was more accurate than any other. The American scientists were using the idea of maintaining a clocks accuracy by using the radiation emitted or absorbed by atoms. At that time the Americans were using a molecule of ammonia but Louis felt that this was not working as well as if they were using different atoms, such as hydrogen or caesium, and so he began working on his own clock using these materials instead.

1953 saw Louis and a colleague, Jack Parry, receiving permission to develop an atomic clock at the NPL based on Louiss existing knowledge of quartz crystal oscillators and other relevant techniques he had learned from the cavity resonance wavemeter he had previously designed. Only two years later Louis’s first atomic clock was running, Caesium I, designed by the UK scientists. Development in the United States had all but stopped due to political difficulties.

Louis continued to work on his atomic clock and by 1964 he had managed to increase the accuracy of the atomic clock from one second in 300 years to one second every 2000 years! The continued success of Louiss work resulted in the definition of a second being changed from 1/864000 of a mean solar day to being calculated as the time it took for 9192631770 cycles of the radiation in an atomic clock.

Louis Essen died in 1997 and before his death had been honoured with, amongst others, an OBE and the Tompion Gold Medal of the Clockmakers Company.

About The Author

Steve Gink uses atomic clocks, you can find his articles about them at atomic clocks or visit www.atomic-clocks.org the site contains information about atomic clocks and some images.

steve.gink@gmail.com

Written By: Steve Gink

Remember those big, wooden clocks with long pendulums and which gives out eerie sounds? Antique clocks can evoke feelings of nostalgia for times gone by. Hearing the clock going ding-dong could either bring a person back to the past or to a time in the future.

Clocks, no matter what kind they are, have always been an important aspect of man’s life. The invention of the clock has made life easier for humans, who used to tell time by the way the sun’s rays were positioned in the sky. Our ancestors could tell it is noon when the sun is set at a certain height or level in the sky. While this system worked, it made the telling of time impossible during night time or at times when it is raining.

Mechanical clocks which sounded a bell at every hour were invented in the 1300s. However, these clocks were so primitive they did not have minute hands or faces which could easily tell the time the way the clocks do nowadays. The discovery of the coiled spring in the 1400s made possible for the existence of smaller clocks and even watches. It was in the 1600s when the pendulum clock was invented by Christiaan Huygens. However, the pendulum clock was still considered inaccurate.

Such was the British Parliament’s yearning for a clock that could accurately tell the time, that a cash reward awaited anyone who could create a clock that could be used even for navigation. Finally, the accurate clock was invented and humans were once again able to navigate and work, knowing that their clocks were telling them the right time.

One of the clocks that have become famous is the grandfather clock. This clock is known for being a work of art in itself, enclosed in a tower case and has a long pendulum. Remember that in the olden days, the longer the pendulum of the clock was, the more accurate the time. Grandfather clocks usually measured high at a minimum of six feet tall, and the tower made of hardwood and glass.

The Grandfather clock actually referred to the floor clock kept in the George Hotel in England, owned by the two brothers. The death of one of the brothers resulted to time malfunction of the floor clock. When the clock started to fail when the second brother died, the clock was never repaired. This was the same clock which inspired the song “My Grandfather’s Clock”, composed by Henry Clay Work in 1875 and written after he stayed in the George Hotel and learned of the story of the two brothers.

Most Grandfather clocks are striking clocks. Striking clocks, like the Big Ben clock in London, are clocks that make a gong sound at every hour.

About The Author:

The author is a regular contributor to Grandfather Clock Center http://www.gfclockcenter.com where more information about grandfather clocks and parts is freely available.

Written By: Scott Miller

Like the storied countryside of England, grandfather clocks from that country are rich in history and tradition. The first known pendulum clock was made in 1656. Grandfather clocks got their name in 1875 from a song by Henry Work. Grandfather clocks are also known as longcase or tallcase clocks.

English clockmakers have been involved in grandfather clock design and construction since the beginning. English grandfather clocks span a period of history that included the reign of Charles II, the Queen Anne period, the Georgian period, and the days of Queen Victoria. In fact, the famous Eastgate Clock was designed to celebrate Queen Victorias 80th birthday in 1897.

English grandfather clocks are not the work of a single man. Rather, they exemplify the best in teamwork. Each clock is a testament to a fine collaboration between designers, woodworkers, and silversmiths. Only the finest craftsman in each category worked on the clocks. Together, they created grandfather clocks that were beautiful, functional, and long-lasting.

In early 18th century, English grandfather clocks were made with moon dials. This enabled clock owners to know the moon phase at a glance, in addition to the hour and the minute. More than just a stylish fad, the moon dial was critical to the lifestyle of the day. This feature was helpful to travelers, as they often needed their journeys to coincide with the moons phases. Journeys were safer by the light of the moon. Moon phases were also helpful for farmers. Some clocks today still feature a moon dial and lunar calendar.

Today, many antique English grandfather clocks are still in circulation. These valuable clocks are quite popular with collectors. Some popular English grandfather clocks include those by Holmes, Trubshaw, Thomas Cartwright, Thomas Wright, Matthew & Thomas Dutton, Daniel Quare, Allam & Clements, and Thomas Johnson. For a clock of enduring quality and classic beauty, any of these fine examples would be a valuable prize for someone considering the purchase of an English grandfather clock.

About the author:
Grandfather Clocks Info provides detailed information on antique, contemporary, discount, English, and German grandfather clocks, as well as kits and repair information. Grandfather Clocks Info is the sister site of Cuckoo Clocks Web.

Written By: Kristy Annely