It's About Time (Here Comes A Story!) Don't Miss The Wedding At The End!

When I called my father-in-law in England this past week, I wasn't able to reach him. Later, I remembered it was because the time in England was only four hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time rather than FIVE hours. (They will change their clocks this weekend in Britain, so the 5 hour difference will be correct after that...until it is time to change again in the Autumn.)

Time...on my last post, I showed you a photo of the clock at St. Pancras Station in London.  Look, I will show it to you again...

If you are thinking that there is a story behind this clock, you are correct and you know I am going to tell it...

The Definition of Time Acts of 1880. It is the act which standardized Greenwich Mean Time for Great Britain.  The railways were the reason behind this.  First adopted by the Great Western Railway in 1840 with other railways following suit. In the early days, it was called "Railway time". Up to that point, time was based on the 24 hour rotation of the earth which meant that East Anglia was about 5 minutes ahead of London and Bristol would be 12 minutes behind!  Okay, I am talking about Britain here but if you are American like me you may be thinking...."I wonder if that is how our time zones in the USA began? Correct!
We have Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones...they were introduced on Nov. 18, 1883 and this was also due to the US railroads! (In 1884, an International Prime Meridian Conference was held in Washington D.C. and Greenwich, England was selected as zero degrees longitude and established the 24 time zones based on the prime meridian.)

Back to the train stations in England with their giant clocks-  St. Pancras Station in London had a doozy...it was said to be the largest at any railway station in England. With a clock dial made of slate,  it was 16 feet and 9 inches in diameter with the hour hand at 4 feet, 5 inches and the minute hand at 7 feet, 3 inches.  The clock was there for nearly 100 years until it was decided that the train station needed modernization and it was decided to sell the clock. Supposedly the clock was to be sold to a wealthy American but that never happened. Upon removal, the clock was dropped and was broken into pieces!  Now, enter our hero of the story, a Midland train guard named Roland Hoggard. He offered to take the pieces of the clock away and he did so. It took him a week, transporting the broken bits on the Midland line to his farm in Nottinghamshire. Here is his quote at the time, "I couldn't bear the thought of it being broken up". Roland Hoggard rebuilt the clock on the end of his barn using as much as the original as possible but recreating pieces that were beyond repair. In the early 2000's,  St. Pancras station was transformed into St. Pancras International Station, taking passengers to Europe. British Railway was able to use Roland's clock as a template for the new clock, with metal plate, slate diamond shaped hour markers and roman numerals.( If you notice it says "Dent" on the clock, the Dent Company also made the clock at the Royal Observatory Greenwich as well as Big Ben!)

If you look at the website for St. Pancras International Station, you will see this: "Our clock continues to keep time and ensure our passengers catch their train."  
What they didn't say but I will say for them, "Thank you, Roland Hoggard!".
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Wedding at St. Pancras Station!  If you click on that, that is just a very sweet story...a couple getting married at the station in March of 2020. They knew their April wedding would be cancelled due to Covid-19. Instead of a kiss, they give each other elbow bumps with just the few witnesses laughing in the background.  Then, at the end, you see the couple looking up at the clock and the words, "I want my time with you."  I hope you are able to read that and see the photos!
Joy!