Letters: Milford millennium clock needs a big hand

SIR – In respect of the news item regarding the Milford millennium clock (A&T, 27th January), I was parish clerk at the time the matter was discussed back in 1999 and can throw some light on the matter.

In 1999 Milford Parish Council invited comment on whether the community should celebrate the new millennium by funding something permanent for the village.

A few ideas were shortlisted and it was decided that a village clock would be the most practical item to welcome in the new era, although, it was not without its detractors.

I cannot recall whether there was a public consultation or a request for community sponsorship, but I do recall that the parish council agreed to take responsibility for the clock’s purchase and its long-term maintenance.

In 2013, it was agreed that the clock, which was hung high on Collins and Butler’s wall, should sit lower on their shopfront to make it more visible and to make it easier to access for maintenance.

The parish council and several members of the community helped fund the repositioning of the clock, and I have already heard whispers that some members of the community are again prepared to put their hands in their pockets to help fund its repair if the clock was repositioned.

Unfortunately, the clock has always proved to be unreliable, so maybe it is time to have a rethink about whether an unreliable clock is worth restoring at all, even though the clock is not yet even a quarter of a century old.

If it is repaired, it may be worth relocating to a more accessible position for future maintenance.

How about considering a new lower central High Street position where it might be appreciated by a wider community audience? Will this happen? I suspect that only time will tell!

Keith Metcalf,

Milford

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SIR – I like it that Milford has a millennium clock (A&T, 27th January). What is it about clocks that shrouds these simple items in escalating value or else secrecy or deception.

In the 1990s I mounted a quartz clock on the face of my Mudeford sandbank beach hut. That worked well, for a car boot clock, with a battery change each year. Then the Noddy Train seemed game for a clock next to the timetable at each end of the journey.

Of course, the weather or urchins playing football did for these clocks in time. Hut sold, no need to carry on. No Noddy clock since around 2006.

But London has livery companies for everything. Let’s get a school, college or local firm to supply and maintain a few clocks here and there in the borough.

More involvement means better involvement and, as all good things can come to an end, a timepiece can be a piece of work for a succession of players with this symbol of where we make time more pleasant.

If one group loses touch, the clock can be a baton to hand on to the next right sort of persons.

One place for a clock is both ends of The Run ferry at Mudeford quay and the Mudeford sandbank jetty.

Compared to the free flowing day and night journeys in my youth, maybe the discipline of time needs to reassert itself for both ferries and train.

Where does that leave us? It leaves us wondering where a clock might both be needed and will survive; a bill of £5,000 to repair a clock already costing many thousands!

We can do better than that, and to pass on the baton is the key to citizenship, conviviality and with more economy serving the passer-by in even more locations without limit of cost or design.

Tim Baber,

Ringwood