Time in his hands: George Clink

• ONE man who would be happy to see the introduction of double summertime is George Clink, the official foreman for the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Every autumn and summer, he has to spend three days changing the 80 clocks in the royal residence - with the autumn session by far the most arduous of his annual tasks.

• If the idea was introduced in the UK, it is likely it would be brought in by missing out the autumn turn back for one year only - and then carrying on as normal - giving Mr Clink a much-deserved break. "I don't think I would miss doing this for one year," he muses. "I would still go round most weeks checking the clocks to ensure they're set to the right time and are in good condition as I do now, so I'd be happy."

• The operation to ensure the Palace's clocks are set to the right time begins two days before the time change occurs. "Every time, twice a year, I have to start the clock changing two days beforehand, for those that are not on public display," he says. "Then the seven or so that are left, I do on the Sunday morning before anyone arrives."

• The process is a lengthy job. Because the clocks are old and valuable, Mr Clink has to wind each one on forwards by 23 hours, rather than just one hour backwards, to prevent damage to the mechanism. "It is much easier in the summer, when I just wind each one on by one hour," he laughs. "It's quite a job."

• Mr Clink, 52, who became a porter at the Palace in the 1990s after a 19-year career working as a butcher and nine years later was promoted to the position of foreman, has since taken a keen interest in horology - the art of measuring time. "I've learned a lot, especially from the horologists employed by the palaces down south," he says. "I've got a real interest in it now."

• His preferred royal timepiece is the clock in the Palace's Royal Diamond Room. "It has always behaved itself and keeps good time," he says. "It's my favourite."