Llandudno

 Off the North Wales main line at Llandudno Junction and up the branch to Llandudno.

As so very often, our first clock sighting is at the railway station.

This is the sort of clock I like. It is situated where it is clear to see, is large enough to seen from a distance, and has a simple face - all of which makes the task of telling the time very easy. It also doesn't take much of a detective to know from the photos that this clock is at Lllandudno station.

The station was first opened in October 158, but the current buidling dates from 1892. The branch to Llandudno was originally built to serve a proposed harbour which would have served the route the Ireland, but the development of Holyhead harbour to the west put paid to this proposal. The railway now serves a nice seaside resort town.

Incidentally, the clock looked even more impressive later in the day when the sun was shining.

The town has many nice shops, some with covered pavements to provide protection from the elements, and it also has the indoor Victoria Centre on Mostyn Street. It has approximately 100,000 suare feet of shopping and claims to be "Llandudno's principal multi-storey shoppers car park (366 spaces)", which is probably true but terribly impressive. However, it is redeemed by having both an internal and external clock.

The internal clcok mirrors the one at the station in its simple effectives, although this time with an elegant blue and gold face.

The external clock sits under a broken pediment with a bell.

The clock face is a bit more ornate, but sadly it does not show the correct time.

Also on Mostyn Street is the local branch of the Halifax building society (which reminds me that I need to write up my visit to Halifax - the town - which I made in January).

And again it is a case of nice clock, shame about the time.

The Friends of Mostyn Facebook page form July 2023 was asking for as many pictures of possible of this clock over the years. The page also says that this was a gas powered illuminated clock installed in 1876.

The Home Front Museum's Facebook page (30 Decmber 2025) claims that the clock was installed to distinguish shop belonging to Richard Owen from another premises trading under the same name. The page also says that the clock was manufactured by Manchester clockmaker Samuel Burman.

Just around the corner is the floral clock.

The Friends of Mostyn Street Facebook page (which I am definitely beginning to like) of 13 July 2025 says that they are responsible for the current planting of the clock in the form of the White Rabbit's Pocket watch. This is also repaetd on a small sign.

The planting is obviously not so impressive at this time of year (late March), but it is much more impressive when it is in its floral prime.

Floral clocks were once quite common, especially in large parks and seaside resorts. The first example in the UK was installed in West Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh in 1903, with the world's first example in the Trocadero Gardens in Paris in 1892. There is a lot more information, and examples of other UK examples at gardensheritageandplanning.com. And perhaps this could be the inspiration for a subset of this blog if I can get a list of all the UK floral clocks which still exist.

I do love a bit of quirky transport, and the Great Orme Tramway fits that description nicely. The Great Orme is a headland high up to the north of the town, and the tramway (built in 1902) is surely the best way of reaching it.  More importantly for this blog, the base station (Victoria) has a clock.

The tramway's website claims that this is the only funicular tramway in Britain that runs on public roads. The trams are open sided, which wasn't very good on the very windy March day that I visited, but it is well worth the ride.

Our final Llandudno clock isn't actually there. I had seen pictures of the Millennium Clock which was situated in the middle of a roundabout on Mostyn Street, but walking up and down several times I couldn't find what should have been an obvious one to spot. A bit of detective work looking at the buildings in the background of photographs led me to find the right location.

A careful look at the vegetation revealed the base of the clock. So whilst the nearby clock on the Halifax branch has lasted for 150 years, the Millennieum clock proabably didn't make it to 25 years.

And so down the line to Colwyn Bay...

Hull (Part 2)

Part 2 of our exploration of Hull, UK City of Culture 2017, is a tour around the edge of the city centre, starting and ending in the old docks area.

Our first port of call, so to speak, is the Humber Ferry booking office in Nelson Street.

The ferry ceased operating when the Humber Bridge was opened in 1981, which at the time was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world.

The current clock would seem to date from 2002.

One thing I noticed about Hull was the large number of public toilets, not all still in use, across the city. A fine block (see below) is situated near to our starting point, and we pass a subterranean facility as we head northwards across the dual carriageway (A63) to our second point of call...

...which is Holy Trinity on Market Place, although it now seems to be referred to as Hull Minster.

The Pevsner guide to Hull refers to this building as "among the greatest of the great town churches of medieval England". The church dates from around 1300 and, like most of its age has undergone numerous alterations and refurbishments since, including a restoration in 1860 - 78 by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The clock dates from 1772, with four dials added in 1840.

Always good to get a few photos of reflections in nearby modern buildings:

...even if it does make things go a bit wobbly.

Adjacent to the church, on its north side, is Trinity Market. This has recently been refurbished, and looks like it is still finding its new feet. It all feels a bit antiseptic at the moment.

So lets press northwards, past one of the greatest street names ever (Land of Green Ginger), past the Guildhall covered in Part 1, and onto the High Street. And as promised in Part 1, we visit we former Dock Offices of 1820.

Continuing north up Dock Office Row and then right on to George Street, we come across what to me is another defining feature of Hull, namely a swing bridge. There are numerous ones in the city, especially across the River Hull.

This one is North Bridge, a substantial structure which carries the A165.

The bridge leads into a road junction which was clearly never designed with pedestrians in mind, and which on the eastern side is the Annison Building.

Retracing our steps back over the bridge brings us into the northern part of the city centre.

The Hull Business Training Centre is a bit tucked out of the way on the corner of Grimston Street, and I was really not expecting to find a clock here. But that is the beauty of clock hunting - you never know when you might come across a fine specimen.

If you are familiar with this blog, you will know that I like simple designs on modern buildings - they look so much better than replica Victorian clocks in this type of setting.

So I was also pleased to find this next one on the Central Library on Prospect Street. The original library building dates from 1901, but this more modern extension was completed in 1962.

And behind the library is another toilet block.

At the end of Prospect Street at its junction with Ferensway is a rare example of a floral clock, set out in the pattern of, of course, the City of Culture logo.

It is not actually easy to tell the time due the angle of planting and its location next to a busy road junction. It is probably best seen from the top of a double decker bus (as are so many things).

The weather vane is the clue to the identity of our final building.

Although now signed as the Marina Recreation Centre, this is the Ellerman Wilson Warehouse on the corner of Kingston Street and Commercial Road.

The Ellerman Wilson Line was once a major shipping company, with a large fleet of both passenger and freight vessels. It is a shame that its warehouse is reduced to being an indoor bowling centre and (oh please save us from) fat conversions.

Oh well, at least it has still got its clock.

In Part 3 we move away from the city centre into the outer reaches of Hull.