Clocks

The clocks we inherited have been the last thing to be properly unpacked – the two grandfathers have been leaning rather sadly against the wall with their hoods off, and two others have been boxed up (since February as they were in storage before we actually moved in).

Yesterday a local clock expert put them together for us and we had good news and bad news (the bad news we sort of partially knew already).

The good news is that they look magnificent – the grandfather clocks in particular just make the rooms they are in.

This one has always been a favourite of mine.

The bad news is that of those clocks, only one (the George III grandfather in the first two pictures) is actually working properly.  So the others are going to have to go in for a full refurb – there is a long waiting for this which is possible just as well because it is quite expensive.  But for all of those clocks is worth it.

Then there are another two.  I like this one which was in the kitchen in the Norfolk house.

The clock restorer did not think much to it and didn’t think it was worth spending any money on it – so J is getting it in his basement.

This one is nice too.  It is an Edwardian mantle clock and worked when it was packed into its box.  Unfortunately, as is often the case with old clocks, it must have got jarred in transit and is not working now.  As it is only worth a few hundred pounds it is not worth getting it professionally restored, but as there is nothing to lose with it I am going to try taking the mechanism out, giving it a Naphtha wash (for the uninitiated of whom I was one until yesterday – this is Zippo lighter fluid), and oiling it with some special clock oil.  If this gets it going again that will be great, if not it will be no worse off than it is at the moment.