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.

- Stephen Fry.22nd Jun 2015
- The impressio...20th Jun 2015
- My favourite ...18th Jun 2015
- Yesterday..16th Jun 2015
- My son is in ...14th Jun 2015
- The greatest ...13th Jun 2015
- Poor old Ron ...12th Jun 2015
- Peter and Jon...11th Jun 2015
- We have to re...9th Jun 2015
- "Hi"7th Jun 2015
- It's the only...6th Jun 2015
- No news is go...5th Jun 2015
- God Bless Ame...4th Jun 2015
- RIP Charles K...2nd Jun 2015
- Arsenal win t...30th May 2015 prev next