Too much time on his hands, but work ticks all the boxes

IN the Clockman’s Tale, Kenneth Chapelle describes the restoration and repair work he does on the 300 clocks belonging to the National Trust for Scotland.

Based in a workshop in the west end of Glasgow, Mr Chapelle said he believes a clock “brings a room to life, ticking all the time chiming the hours, the half hours, the quarter hours…”

“It’s really quite ironical that the clocks that tend to give the most problems are not necessary the oldest but often the newest because they are so cheaply and badly made.” Mr Chapelle said the oldest clock belonging to the trust was from Castle Fraser, Aberdeenshire, dating from the mid-1600s.

“I’ve been told it’s just possibly the oldest Scottish clock in existence.”

He said that most clocks belonging to the trust were designed to run for eight days although there is one which continues for 365 days.

He also describes a “fox scarer” machine at the House of Dun, in Montrose, Angus, designed to fire a rifle every hour to scare foxes.

SHÂN ROSS