It’s a replica of an old Smith’s wall clock. When I saw the Smith’s of London logo, I was hit by a Proustian rush of nostalgia. Smith’s Industries had a huge factory in Cricklewood which, when I was a child, employed about 8,000 people including several members of my family. That logo adorned the railway bridge by the factory and I hadn’t seen it for about 30 years until yesterday. For six full minutes (I know this, I was holding a great big clock), I glazed over and remembered a London full of factories. I suppose I should play a Smiths track but no. Far better to get another Smith to evoke the old clock factory’s golden era when a lot of the workers looked exactly like this.
My wife bought a clock and I went all funny.

- A Christmas C...24th Dec 2015
- Ian Dury's Ch...21st Dec 2015
- Can Christmas...20th Dec 2015
- An essential ...19th Dec 2015
- Demise of the...18th Dec 2015
- Ground Contro...16th Dec 2015
- To St. Mark's...14th Dec 2015
- I often switc...13th Dec 2015
- (Very) ol' Bl...12th Dec 2015
- Christmas Hit...10th Dec 2015
- The card that...8th Dec 2015
- Adele.7th Dec 2015
- RIP Mike Allen.6th Dec 2015
- Leicester Cit...5th Dec 2015
- George Harris...4th Dec 2015 prev next