The Council act

My clock tower is now bereft of all clocks.

The Borders council reps came down last Friday, along with the clock man, and took pics and hummed and hawed. The outcome of it all was that new faces were needed and they should be made of perspex, so there'll be no cracking or expanding or contracting. And more importantly the fixings won't rust.

I did ask if it would be possible to keep a clock face as a memento for the house. They agreed.

Then on Monday I got a phone call from the guy in charge at the Council to say that he wanted me to move my car immediately, just in case. And he wasn't happy at all with the fixings on the rest of the clock faces and they would have to be removed forthwith. Phone calls were exchanged and the clock man arranged to come down today and do the deed.

So now my poor clock tower is without a clock and looks a bit sorry for itself.

However, yesterday, while chatting with my neighbour and his son, they pointed out that the clock surrounds were made of brass and were quite valuable, so I should ask if I could keep all of them and see what I could get for them... in the end it might actually pay for the excess on my car if the Council don't cough up. My neighbour said I should play the 'girlie card' and express innocence in all things metal and just talk about memories.

I duly played my part and I'm now the proud owner of 3 clock faces and 3 brass surrounds. One of the faces is metal and didn't need a surround, hence there were only 3 surrounds and one of them was the guilty party in falling into my car.

I very nicely asked the guys if they'd be kind enough to put the faces and surrounds in the shed for me, as they were so heavy. As they did so the clock man said, 'but these surrounds are made from brass. They're worth something!' So I said, 'well they're mine now as they're in my shed!' and he laughed and that was that.

The clock face holes are all boarded up and the building looks slightly derelict, but hopefully it won't be too long before the new faces are made and fitted.

And at least the guy from the Council is in a happy place now that all bits and pieces that belong to them have been removed. I think he was genuinely scared that another astronomical insurance claim for mending my car might have been on its way!

The East facing clock face is on the ground and the guys are in the process of taking down the South facing face

South and East clock faces ready for their journey to my shed!