West country time?

My brother in law is an engineer who makes tiny gadgets, and models of enormous insects. He once made a tiny robot snake that you could drive inside a drainpipe. He even gets paid to do it.

We often talk about watches and he has an idea to make a watch movement that tells the 'approximate' time, it would ultimately be accurate over the course of an hour or 12 hours, but the idea is that it is designed to speed up and then slow down, not massively, but enough so that the time is generally a little bit out, maybe using oval gears. I think it comes from living in the west country, where times are always approximate anyway. Try arranging a business meeting from someone from the south west and they'll generally be late. Or early if there's food.

I think we can sometimes get obsessed by chronometers and COSC accuracy, but wouldn't it be nice to kick back, and when someone asks you the time, you could tell them 'it's about two thirty, ish'? Does it need to be more accurate than this, 90% of the time?

Or not? Would you compensate for the error, and plot the differences on a chart, so you could correct it?

Is the 'approximate time' watch a dead duck or a clever beast?

You need to brand it as the “Dreckly” watch [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]



The Cornish on here will understand [emoji106]


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Sounds fun but doesn’t a one-handed watch sort of do this anyway? It sort of makes it almost very difficult to tell the exact time

I have a Vostok Amphibia that does that.

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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

I have a Vostok Amphibia that does that.

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That’s from the East….

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Originally Posted by mrmeat

My brother in law is an engineer who makes tiny gadgets, and models of enormous insects. He once made a tiny robot snake that you could drive inside a drainpipe. He even gets paid to do it.

We often talk about watches and he has an idea to make a watch movement that tells the 'approximate' time, it would ultimately be accurate over the course of an hour or 12 hours, but the idea is that it is designed to speed up and then slow down, not massively, but enough so that the time is generally a little bit out, maybe using oval gears. I think it comes from living in the west country, where times are always approximate anyway. Try arranging a business meeting from someone from the south west and they'll generally be late. Or early if there's food.

I think we can sometimes get obsessed by chronometers and COSC accuracy, but wouldn't it be nice to kick back, and when someone asks you the time, you could tell them 'it's about two thirty, ish'? Does it need to be more accurate than this, 90% of the time?

Or not? Would you compensate for the error, and plot the differences on a chart, so you could correct it?

Is the 'approximate time' watch a dead duck or a clever beast?

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I guess Bob Fleming would love it ;)

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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

I have a Vostok Amphibia that does that.

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Beat me to it! [emoji1]

Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves

Funny that. I’ll stop wearing a watch that is not within COSC or thereabouts because I consider it a design flaw. But I will very rarely read or give the time to the minute. I just need to know that I can if I need to.

Think there is some mileage in the idea as a novel concept though don’t underestimate the difficulty in designing a watch movement from scratch, even if your BIL is a clever chap.
No sure know oval gears might work either TBH (edit: - maybe oval sprocket and chain?).

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Originally Posted by mrmeat

I think it comes from living in the west country, where times are always approximate anyway. Try arranging a business meeting from someone from the south west and they'll generally be late. Or early if there's food.

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Is that an Equation of Time complication?

Do not take the p*** out of the West Country. Some of the greatest advancements in the recording of time took place in Bristol. When Isambard Kingdom Brunel connected Bristol to Paddington. There was, I believe but subject to a check, a 12 minute difference in time and travellers were often confused whether they were reading Bristol time or London time.

Here is a brief resume' of the famous Bristol Temple Mead clock.

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1782814

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Originally Posted by mrmeat

Try arranging a business meeting from someone from the south west and they'll generally be late. Or early if there's food.

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You’ve met my family then scattered in Devon and Somerset, and don’t even suggest free bar.

I like the idea, if I need to be somewhere then I’m going to be early, for anything else time seems almost irrelevant to me, once I clock out of the office today, I’ve a meeting tomorrow and other than that until 5:45 Monday morning I will eat when hungry, go to bed when tired etc etc and time is not a factor.

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Originally Posted by Longwool

You need to brand it as the “Dreckly” watch [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]



The Cornish on here will understand [emoji106]


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Camborne here & I know exactly what you mean. Funny thing is, English people think that when I say "Directly" it means I'm going to do whatever they want straightaway...

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Originally Posted by Mick P

Do not take the p*** out of the West Country. Some of the greatest advancements in the recording of time took place in Bristol. When Isambard Kingdom Brunel connected Bristol to Paddington. There was, I believe but subject to a check, a 12 minute difference in time and travellers were often confused whether they were reading Bristol time or London time.

Here is a brief resume' of the famous Bristol Temple Mead clock.

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1782814

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No offence intended.

I was born in Cornwall and now live up north. Somerset.

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Originally Posted by Speedy2254

Camborne here & I know exactly what you mean. Funny thing is, English people think that when I say "Directly" it means I'm going to do whatever they want straightaway...

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In Camborne you only need to know the day, well more specifically, if it's Wednesday.

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Originally Posted by Speedy2254

Camborne here & I know exactly what you mean. Funny thing is, English people think that when I say "Directly" it means I'm going to do whatever they want straightaway...

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Knave-go-by or locally negabe here.

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Originally Posted by Mick P

Do not take the p*** out of the West Country. Some of the greatest advancements in the recording of time took place in Bristol. When Isambard Kingdom Brunel connected Bristol to Paddington. There was, I believe but subject to a check, a 12 minute difference in time and travellers were often confused whether they were reading Bristol time or London time.

Here is a brief resume' of the famous Bristol Temple Mead clock.

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1782814

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The historic dual hand clock linked to above is at The Exchange on Corn Street which is the best part of a mile away from Temple Meads. There was a similar public clock on Exeter City Library with a 14 minute time difference, however it was destroyed in WW2.

Whilst it is true that Railway Time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway, it was adopted whilst the line from London still terminated at Wooton Basset. Bristol wasn't connected to London by rail until the completion of Box Tunnel in June 1841.

Bristol is 2º 35' west of Greenwich, which is makes Bristol Solar Time a smidgen over ten minutes different to GMT.

We like facts at TZ.

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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

The historic dual hand clock linked to above is at The Exchange on Corn Street which is the best part of a mile away from Temple Meads. There was a similar public clock on Exeter City Library with a 14 minute time difference, however it was destroyed in WW2.

Whilst it is true that Railway Time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway, it was adopted whilst the line from London still terminated at Wooton Basset. Bristol wasn't connected to London by rail until the completion of Box Tunnel in June 1841.

Bristol is 2º 35' west of Greenwich, which is makes Bristol Solar Time a smidgen over ten minutes different to GMT.

We like facts at TZ.

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Nobody is disputing those facts, some of them where in the reference I quoted. I said here is the story of the famous Temple Meads Clock which started the issue of consolidating time on the GWR. The article just showed another clock which was made clear - strewth.

You are just to keen to start fights.

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Originally Posted by Mick P

Nobody is disputing those facts, some of them where in the reference I quoted. I said here is the story of the famous Temple Meads Clock which started the issue of consolidating time on the GWR. The article just showed another clock which was made clear - strewth.

You are just to keen to start fights.

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That wasn't the story of the Temple Meads Clock!!!

Don't post nonsense all the time and people won't react.

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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

That wasn't the story of the Temple Meads Clock!!!

Don't post nonsense all the time and people won't react.

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For crying out loud, yes we all know it isn't the Temple Meads clock, it says so in the article.

My point was that it was the Temple Meads clock that started the process of aligning time.

Passengers at Bristol were often confused what time to catch a train. Was it Bristol time or London Time, so to make the Temple Meads Clock useable, a movement was started to align Bristol Time to London Time and eventually further afield. That's it.

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Originally Posted by Mick P

My point was that it was the Temple Meads clock that started the process of aligning time.

Passengers at Bristol were often confused what time to catch a train. Was it Bristol time or London Time, so to make the Temple Meads Clock useable, a movement was started to align Bristol Time to London Time and eventually further afield. That's it.

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The Temple Meads station clock played no larger part in the story of the adoption of standardised time than any other station clock on the GWR and B&ER networks. In November 1840 the GWR ordered that London time should be used in all its timetables, and at all its stations (this was prior to the connection to Paddington being completed).

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sit...?itok=e5PoHZ7r

Here are some articles on the subject of the introduction of Railway Time from reputable sources, none of which mention the Temple Meads station clock as being the instigation point of the process. The clock at The Exchange down the road does get a mention, because it is one of the few surviving public clocks of the era modified for dual time.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/obj...tric-telegraph

https://greenwichmeantime.com/articl.../bristol-time/

https://greenwichmeantime.com/articles/history/railway/

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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

The Temple Meads station clock played no larger part in the story of the adoption of standardised time than any other station clock on the GWR and B&ER networks. In November 1840 the GWR ordered that London time should be used in all its timetables, and at all its stations (this was prior to the connection to Paddington being completed).

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sit...?itok=e5PoHZ7r

Here are some articles on the subject of the introduction of Railway Time from reputable sources, none of which mention the Temple Meads station clock as being the instigation point of the process. The clock at The Exchange down the road does get a mention, because it is one of the few surviving public clocks of the era modified for dual time.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/obj...tric-telegraph

https://greenwichmeantime.com/articl.../bristol-time/

https://greenwichmeantime.com/articles/history/railway/

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I totally give up with you and as from today I am not going to engage with you. Talking to you, to quote the well known expression, is like wrestling with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.

Now go wrestle with some other mug.

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Originally Posted by seadog1408

Knave-go-by or locally negabe here.

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Knave-go-by is just round the corner from my folks' place, they live behind Bassett school (as was).

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Originally Posted by Mick P

I totally give up with you and as from today I am not going to engage with you. Talking to you, to quote the well known expression, is like wrestling with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.

Now go wrestle with some other mug.

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Why not just provide the reference(s) to your source of the information that I have disputed, or have the decency to admit that you got your Bristolian clocks muddled up.

I think this is the main difference/advantage between an analogue and digital watch. A digital watch demands you read every digit - ‘09:48:01’ whereas when I look at a 3 handed dial ‘it’s about ten to ten’. I still need to perform a microsecond of mental arithmetic to gauge what 09:48:01 means whereas just the ‘shape’ of ten to ten instantly transfers the information. Is that because I grew up with a hand wound timex since the age of 5 or is it how we assimilate information?


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Originally Posted by Mr Curta

Why not just provide the reference(s) to your source of the information that I have disputed, or have the decency to admit that you got your Bristolian clocks muddled up.

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I don't think Mick's brain works like that Matthew. He believes what he thinks is true and anyone disputing this is some sort of low life whose sole goal in life is to pick a fight with him on pesky details like facts, morals, or as you say decency.

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Originally Posted by Mick P

Here is a brief resume' of the famous Bristol Temple Mead clock.

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Firstly, it is Temple Meads, not Temple Mead.
Secondly, the Temple Meads clock never displayed Bristol time, only GMT.

We like facts here on TZ-UK.


R

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Originally Posted by Saint-Just

I don't think Mick's brain works like that Matthew. He believes what he thinks is true and anyone disputing this is some sort of low life whose sole goal in life is to pick a fight with him on pesky details like facts, morals, or as you say decency.

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Ha!

Interesting theory.

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Originally Posted by mrmeat

... Is the 'approximate time' watch a dead duck or a clever beast?

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To briefly stray from the traditional M*ck-baiting for a second, it strikes me that - while it'd be a fun thing for a talented engineer to make - wristwatches are barely a commercial proposition, and novelty wristwatches not at-all. If that is your thang, the Chinese have you covered -

https://www.uniquewatchguide.com/ima...-1-744x545.jpg