On this day – July 24th

At the third stroke...

The first voice of the speaking clock was that of telephonist Ethel Jane Cane, transmitted for the first time on July 24th 1936. Ethel won a competition involving 15,000 telephonists, which incidentally helped no end to promote the upcoming service, her prize being eternal fame and ten guineas. Or at least fame until 1963 when another voice was used.

These days the equipment is of course digital, occupying space the volume of a suitcase; in 1936 the glass discs, relays, valves and other gizmos filled a room.

In time-keeping terms the new system, reached by dialling TIM (i.e. 846) in major cities like Manchester and London, and 952 elsewhere, was another technological leap-forward as significant as that provided by the railway age. The railways brought in the need for time to be as closely co-ordinated as possible to allow for smooth timetabling; the speaking clock made that timekeeping work... precisely.

Whose voice took over the Speaking Clock from March 1th to March 23rd, 2003?

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