Local clocks on TV

Those that have been watching the latest series of Michael Portillo's railway journeys – this time through the North West of England from Carlisle to Alton Towers – may have noticed the clocks that have featured, the first one at Carnforth station of 'Brief Encounter' fame.

Audlem resident Dylan Jones did and brought it to the attention of the webteam – we wrote about Carnforth station in yesterday's Flying Scotsman article – as the clock was made locally at Whitchurch by the famous company, J. B. Joyce. A couple of episodes of the TV programme later and the camera focused on the huge clock at Liverpool's Lime Street station, also made by the Whitchurch company.

This inspired a little research. J. B. Joyce & Co, clockmakers, were founded in Shropshire and claim to be the oldest clock manufacturer in the world, originally established in 1690. The claim, however, is challenged by another English firm of clockmakers, Thwaites & Reed, who claim to have been in continuous manufacture since before 1740 with antecedents to 1610.

William Joyce began in the North Shropshire village of Cockshutt making longcase clocks. The family business was handed down from father to son and in 1790 moved to High Street, Whitchurch.

In 1904 J. B. Joyce moved to Station Road, Whitchurch – see photo.

From 1834, Thomas Joyce had made large clocks for local churches and public buildings. In 1849 the company copied the Big Ben escapement designed by Lord Grimthorpe. The firm made large clocks for many public buildings, both at home and overseas, and for some of the principal railway companies.

The company installed over 2,000 large public clocks in Britain and Ireland, the majority being the synchronous mains-controlled type and a high proportion were installed in churches.

In 1964, Norman Joyce, the last member of the Joyce family, retired and sold the company to Smith of Derby. Many clocks were changed to electric motors made by its parent company Smith of Derby during the 1970s, thereby losing a heritage of mechanical clocks.

The J. B. Joyce brand name has been upheld by Smith of Derby Group, who now maintain many original J. B. Joyce heritage pieces still in operation in public places around the world.

In 2012 a timed-bid auction was held to dispose of the surplus items accumulated at the Station Road premises and lovers of the work of J. B. Joyce joined with interior designers and collectors of historic items in bidding to own a piece of horological history.

Notable clocks

• Carnforth station
• Lime Street station (see photo)
• Eastgate Clock, Chester Installed 1897 (see photo)
• Customs House, Shanghai, China Installed 1927
• Sydney Post Office, Australia
• Cape Town City Hall, Cape Town, South Africa
• The Royal Exchange, Manchester
• Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, England

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