Hereford

Hereford station has this fine example of a clock by Joyce of Whitchurch.

The station itself was opened in December 1853, and was originally named Hereford Barr's Court.

A second can be found on the exterior of the main station building:

Close by is a standard example of a Morrison's supermarket clock, although welcome all the same.

The road from the railway station to the town centre, Commercial Street, takes you past Mr Chips fish and chips shop.

The clock is clearly no longer working.

 

Mr Chips was once the holder of the (somewhat useless) world record for the largest bag of chips, weighing in at 368.5 kg. Try holding that in one hand while burning your other hand and mouth on hot chips! The world record has now passed on to a chip shop in Southend-on-Sea, which sounds to me much more the sort of town that should hold such a record.

 

Mr Chips was also included in the Independent newspaper's top ten fish and chip shops in February 2006, although recent reviews on TripAdviser are less complimentary.

 

The next building is the Buttermarket, a Grade II listed building opened in 1860. The clock is by J Smith & Sons of Derby.

There is a video on YouTube of this clock striking 10 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlBmfDemduE.

Inside the Buttermarket there is a Joyce of Whitchurch clock, very similar to the one at the railway station (although the hand design is different).

Philip Morris & Son on Widemarsh Street have this gloriously coloured clock.

Philip Morris & Son is a department store originally founded in 1845. Judging by the on-line views it is a store that prides itself on good products and excellent service. And full marks to them for the clock.

Around the corner in Broad Street there is a standard Omega clock on the premises of Pleasance & Harper jewellers.

This octagonal clock is in the museum, and is originally from the local Odeon cinema.

 

To Bridge Street now, and this clock on the premises of Andrew Morris.

Our only church clock on this visit is that of St Peter's. The church was originally founded in 1035, with the tower dating from the late 13th century. The building was extensively restored during the Victorian era.

 

And finally, this ex-clock can be found on Commercial Street:

 

Newark

 

Newark Northgate station has this fine example of a Potts clock on Platform 1. Its positioning and design is certainly a throw back to times gone by, but is wonderful to see. Full marks to East Coast trains for keeping it in good condition.

On the other side of town is Newark Castle station. Close to this is the building below. The surrounding car park is shown on the maps as an arena, so presumably it is used for occasional events.

The building acts as the arena pavilion and toilet block.

There are two clock faces - one side is in reasonable condition (although the hands are a bit bent), but the other face is in a much worse condition.

Looking across from the arena/car park, you can see this building. It sits by the River Trent, so presumably its original purpose was something to do with river trade and industry. However, it has now been incorporated into a sheltered housing complex.

We are now on Bar Gate, facing the entrance to the highly descriptive Slaughterhouse Lane. Although this now in fact leads to a Morrisons supermarket.

 

Ostensibly in Church Street, St Mary's church, which its spire reaching 236 feet (72 m), dominates the centre of the town, and forms a backdrop to Market Place, the main town square.

Thanks to the Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project web pages (southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk) I can tell you that the clock has three 7ft (2.1 m) diameter and one 9ft (2.7 m) diameter faces. The clock mechanism of 1898 is originally by Joyce (of Whitchurch), and was converted to electrical working in 1971 by Smith of Derby.

Next up are the fabulous offices of the Castle Brewery in Albert Street.

Nothing to do with clocks, but I love this depiction of Newark Castle which sits below the clock tower.

This now deserted site was once John Harrison car dealers in Lombard Street.

Our final clock in Newark is indoors. This is the Buttermarket shopping centre, located in a former covered market hall opened on 13 October 1884 (so happy 129th birthday). It was converted to the Buttermarket in 1990.

Part of the shopping centre seems to be called The Royal Exchange, as evidenced by the clock.