Clocks And Whelks

This afternoon Jackie drove us to Lymington, where our two clocks were now ready.

Gosport Street

We parked in Gosport Street and walked down Quay Hill to Dials. The iron barriers on the kerbside ensure that careless photographers cannot step back into the road for wider close-ups.

Loose Ends and New Forest Ice Cream Parlour

Loose Ends, in the left foreground of this photograph, stands next to New Forest Ice Cream Parlour. The ice cream is sold all around the forest.

Jack Rabbits Barber & Shop

Next in line is Jack Rabbits Barber & Shop. Much of the town centre dates from Georgian and Victorian times, the buildings of which have been retained.

Quay HillQuay Hill 2

The quaintly cobbled Quay Hill runs steeply down to the left of this street. Dials is situated at the bottom right hand corner.

Quay Hill

Fascinating as are the shops, some of the buildings, like these, are private houses.

Quay Hill

At the bottom of the hill, next to Dials, is The Old Alarm, where, obscured by the gentleman’s head, is a notice advertising a flat in the building. From the early 19th century, Lymington had a thriving shipbuilding industry, particularly associated with Thomas Inman, builder of the schooner Alarm, which famously raced the American yacht America in 1851. 

Dials

This was the first time Jackie had accompanied me to the clock shop. She liked the inside as much as I did, and I had a sneaky plan.

I knew she would fall in love with the grandfather clocks. I left her to do just that while I settled up for Mum’s carriage clock, and Martin returned the wall clock in which he had secured the face which had caused the problem, and for which he made no charge.

Grandfather clocks

Then I bought her favourite, the one with the moon’s phases charted. This marvel was made in Jersey in 1822. It will be delivered and set up in two days time. That’s birthday and Christmas sorted.

After this, Jackie carried the repaired clocks back up the hill to the car whilst I wandered down to the quay, where

Unloading whelks

I once again met the young fisherman in yellow trousers who I had photographed at Mudeford Quay. This time, he and his colleagues were unloading bags of whelks.

Blades

I then took advantage of the sale at Blades and bought myself a pair of trousers. They were navy blue, not yellow.

This evening we enjoyed second helpings of Hordle Chinese Take Away’s meal, with which we both drank Cimarosa sauvignon blanc 2014.

62 comments

  1. A lovely town–it seems perfect for wandering about and doing some shopping, too. (Then taking a walk in the forest for some ice cream.) 🙂 Your photos are wonderful, even with the iron barriers.
    Congratulations on the new clock!
    (There’s some info on clocks and timepieces in my World of the American Revolution book. It was a time of great development in clock making.)

      1. The one (Derrick) you may have seen in our ‘green’ room is from the US. It was the first production-line-built movement.

  2. Hurrah! A grandfather clock – purchased on the very day ours went berserk. It began to chime at 10 past 9 yesterday morning, and it’s now 9.38am. It has not ceased chiming with everything striking at once since. It has almost run the weight down. We shall phone the clock man once the noise stops! They are a fabulous piece of furniture to have. Congrats on the purchase!

  3. A beautiful walk, thank you! I know Jackie didn’t cook here, but I am always hoping she shows up in my kitchen and makes me dinner.

    1. Yes, it appealed to the gardener in me, to have the moon phases, I am SO excited re the clock!

  4. Are whelks sold as food and if so how do you cook them? The cobbled stones look so different when they are dry. I had my fill of them in Istanbul; treacherous when wet. Happy Birthday to Jackie; is Pisces her sun sign? I believe Pisces have an affinity with the moon; not that I’m up on such things. 🙂

    1. They are sold as food, Mary. I think they are boiled. Actually Jackie’s birthday is not until June, but she didn’t get a Christmas present because the Salvage yard had sold what we wanted the week before, so we decided to wait for the right thing. Thank you

    1. ..and there’s a lot of folklore about gardens, best times to plant, best times to fertilize, harvest, etc….based on the phases of the moon. ( as I’ve been reading my Old Farmers’ Almanac…)

      1. The moon’s cycle is easier for ordinary folk to keep track of than the sun’s. Before written calendars, and all this nonsense about 28 days in one month, and 31 in another, the four-weekly thing worked fine. All those medieval bigwigs getting spooked about the number 13. Did you know there used to be 13 zodiac signs, but they got rid of one (the spider, oooh-err!) because it was associated with premonitions, etc. and other non-Xn stuff?

  5. “That’s birthday and Christmas sorted.” Practical! 😉
    Seriously, your sneaky plan worked. Nothing like giving a gift that the recipient really wants.

  6. I so enjoyed walking around town with you. And, oh that grandfather clock! Such a beauty.

  7. My, Jack Rabitts…the real name with an ‘s’? And I’d love a cup of something at Sophie’s, I’m sure. And to top it off you bestowed a fantastic present upon your wife–that you can both fully enjoy for years to come. Nicely done.

  8. Lovely atmosphere to this series. I am presently listening to Manos Hadjidakis ~ Waltz of Lost Dreams ( can be found on YouTube ) and it goes very well with the sequence. 🙂

  9. One of the best things about your posts aside the fact that you truly are a gifted photographer with a keen eye for the interesting and the unusual, are your titles! I would read your blog based on title alone!

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