11 O'Clock, Tick, Tock
How do you manage to sheer the winding mechanism off a watch? I've no idea but I had somehow managed to do just that. This unintentional vandalism needed fixing.
Half a Sign
'Clock & Watch Repair' is the name on the sign above the door of this little shop in Edinburgh's Old Town. At least it used to be. The harsh Scottish winters have obviously taken their toll and only half the wording remains, revealing the almost legible traces of much older signage below- 'Beer & Wine' perhaps? I'm not sure. Going by the look of the place it's hard to imagine there was ever anything else here before- I'd always imagined these old clocks in the window had been ticking since the dawn of time.
A Few Minutes Wait
As I enter, the door sets off a small bell, the old fashioned kind that alerts the owner to the arrival of customers. It's the same every time I've been here- a slow, steady flow of one or two customers coming and going at any one time, and the owner complaining he hasn't had a chance to get his morning tea (which he makes on an old electric cooker/whistling kettle combination in the back part of the shop). There's a elderly gent waiting to be served before me. He has overwound a mantel clock and it's in for repair. A common problem apparently. I wait patiently while they discuss the internal workings of that particular brand of clock. There's never any rush here. You'll get served when the owner is ready to serve you and not a second nor a minute before.
Click to enlarge images:
All photographs were take on the Fuji X100T
The border between Scotland and England is a wild and barren place. It runs for 154km between the solway Firth and Marchall There isn’t much in the way of people for a good distance on either side of it making it a kind of no-man’s-land. A large passing place and the food van mark the crossing point (this one at least).