2018 February meeting

February 1, 2018

Conservation of Clocks with Wooden Wheels

Dr Mike Flannery FBHI ACR

For our February meeting we welcome Dr Mike Flannery FBHI. Mike, well known for his regular “Bench View” column in the HJ will be turning his attention to the subject of clocks with wooden wheels. Mike was awarded a Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship which saw him visiting the USA and Canada and later France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland during which time he researched the repair and conservation of wooden-wheeled clocks and related items. In his own words:

“Most of us, who have an interest in British Horology, are familiar with clocks made mainly from ferrous and non-ferrous materials. However we are also aware of the very few wooden wheeled clocks made by Harrison and yet very few others as far as we know, less than a handful of British makers have made wooden wheeled clocks that have survived. On the continent wooden frames for clocks were common as were clocks with wooden wheels. In the USA the concept and manufacture of wooden wheeled clocks was taken to a new level by Eli Terry and others. There are some staggering modern designs of clocks that use wood as the main material. During my talk I will try and link all this together, I have a small range of wooden clocks which I will bring with me to show, and a couple of clocks which have a mixture of wood and metals. “

Mike is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, a Fellow of the British Horological Institute, and an approved Institute of Conservation, Accredited Conservator-Restorer. He holds the West Dean College Diploma in the Conservation and Repair of Antique Clocks and The University of Sussex Post Graduate Diploma in Conservation. He also holds the City and Guilds of London Institute Full Technological Certificate.

A meeting not to be missed!

Swedish WW Clock
American WW Clock

2018 January meeting

 January 4, 2018

The Herne Bay Turret Clock & Margate Time Ball

Mike Bundock MBHI

For our first meeting of the New Year we welcome Mike Bundock MBHI.

Mike is an accountant by training and currently works as Managing Director for the European division of an American owned specialist furniture manufacturer.

Outside of work, Mike is Chairman of the Herne Bay Historical Records Society, an organisation he first joined in 1979. This was around the time that his interest in things mechanical led him to discover the BHI. Upon joining, he soon signed up for the Correspondence Course in Technical Horology, graduating in 1983. It was due to the exercise on public clocks within this course that led him to discover the Herne Bay Clock Tower. Mike’s interest in public timekeeping has developed from this modest beginning and over the past thirty plus years, he has been a member of the AHS Turret Clock Group, serving as Secretary and then later as Chairman for many years. Mike is currently Honorary Clocks Advisor to the Dioceses’ of Canterbury, Rochester and Chelmsford.

Mike’s interest in history led him to earn both a BA and an MA in the subject from the University of Kent as a mature student. Mike has authored several books on his local area and on public timekeeping, both subjects on which he speaks regularly. Mike is married to Nicola and they have two grown up daughters.

For those who like to do their homework Mike has written excellent articles for the HJ on the Herne Bay Turret Clock and the Margate Time Ball; May 2015 and August 2014 respectively.

Monthly branch meetings are normally held at the The White Hart Barn in Godstone

THE WHITE HART BARN

(Godstone Village Hall)

GODSTONE

SURREY RH9 8DU

7.30 pm for 8.00 pm Start