simple pleasures no. 7 - the ticking watch

The gentle tick of of a mechanical watch is a thing of beauty. It will never ever be matched by its electronic equivalent.  

This is one of my mechanical watches and it comes with history. Open the back cover and you will find this inscribed inside...

'The Daimler Co. Ltd for twenty five years loyal and faithful service. 1913 - 1938. T.C. Gandy.'

I wonder who T.C. Gandy was.  What job did he discharge so faithfully for a quarter of a century to earn this watch? What other simple pleasures brought joy to his life? I search in vain for answers.

A weekend in London

Dear Sheddists,

this weekend past we celebrated my birthday with a trip to London, Greenwich to be precise.

The highlights of our visit?

Over-hearing a rather touching conversation on the Tube between two autistic gentlemen arguing the merits of prime numbers - I suspect even now they are somewhere on the Circle Line extolling the virtues of the number seven!

A fantastic walk around the quay-bound Cutty Sark, lifted high in the air to reveal her metal-skirted hull.

The climb through Greenwich Park toward the Royal Observatory to straddle the Meridian line.  How precious for a putative horologist!

Sunday morning and a visit to the Royal Maritime Museum to view a fantastic exhibition of photographic work from the late and great Ansel Adams. Then onward to the Royal Albert Hall - the shock and awe of Cirque du Soleil's, "Kooza!"

And come Monday, my birthday, the gift of a ticking mechanical watch from the Royal Observatory, its mechanical movements revealed by its skeleton-casing.

What a weekend, what memories!!

Yours as ever,

electrofried(mr)