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I was up town today and noticed that one of the grand buildings has a clock on it with two roman numerals stating 12 oclock but no number 11, surely this can`t be a mistake.

My own thoughts are either its a joke or that it means something , but to be honest I`m baffled.

Anyway heres the pixs for you to see, let me know what you think.

Scott

that is so odd! how old is the clock?

oh yeah, how odd!!



Surely somone else must have noticed!!!



Has it been recently refurbished? It looks in good condition.

Do you think there might be some superstition with the number 11......You must find out Scotty I'm intrigued.......this is a mission you must complete.

BTW where is the clock?

I`m not sure how old the building is, it must be victorian I think ,I can recall it seems to get an overhaul about every 10 years or so.



It could be a superstitous thing pina, I think the only way we will find out is if a clockmaker can enlighting us, or if i can herrang the local council about it.

Scott

whats that ? it looks like an Xl to me

Nomad wrote:

whats that ? it looks like an Xl to mei see XII where 11 o'clock should be. SOMEONE who knows the history of that building has to know the story behind it, i hope Scotty finds out

OK...I zoomed this in and scoped it out CSI-style.

The clockface that is barely visible on the side actually DOES have an "11" So this has to be a mistake. I'm guessing that the mistake was made on one of the four faces and not the others, thanks to the prohibitive cost of fixing the mistake, the town was forced to keep the incorrect face and over the years it has become part of the folklore of the town.

One building downtown in Farmington has "Nazi Swastikas" all around the upper brick facing. What's funny is that it is actually a Native American design that predates Nazi Germany. That's why, despite some vocal protests in the '40's, the city has kept the design in place.

I will find out I`m on a mission now, btw LC its a 5 min stroll from the Witchery, lol

its a strange place Edinburgh.

Tomorrow I will go and ask the people who are employed in this building what it is all about.

Scott

scotty wrote: btw LC its a 5 min stroll from the Witchery, lol

:-4 :yh_flower :yh_blush :yh_love .....

Jives wrote: OK...I zoomed this in and scoped it out CSI-style.

The clockface that is barely visible on the side actually DOES have an "11" So this has to be a mistake. I'm guessing that the mistake was made on one of the four faces and not the others, thanks to the prohibitive cost of fixing the mistake, the town was forced to keep the incorrect face and over the years it has become part of the folklore of the town.

One building downtown in Farmington has "Nazi Swastikas" all around the upper brick facing. What's funny is that it is actually a Native American design that predates Nazi Germany. That's why, despite some vocal protests in the '40's, the city has kept the design in place.


Hmmmmmmm interesting Jives but I`m not so sure, I will go back again tomorrow .

Scott

Sorry LC I couldnt resist the pun, you really have made a great choice , its a stunning area, so romantic, you`ll love it.

Scott

Any more news on the clock Scotty?

Just an up date folks, I didnt manage to get down to the building yesterday, but its top of my list for today.

I did a lot of Googling on it but it didnt shed any light as to why the clock has two 12`s.

I did find out the buiding was designed by Robert Adams in 1770.

I should have also stated that the building is Register house , which holds all the birth, deaths, and marriages of Edinburgh.

Today, the building still holds public records, together with a private records that have been deposited, including early records of the Photogrpahic Society of Scotland.

One of the towers on Register House has dials similar to clock faces, but they are, in fact, dials for a weather vane showing the direction of the wind.

Could this be the reason Scotty?

Yes Abbey this is true one tower does have dials like a compass


This is the left tower



I should have explained there are 2 clock towers , the other is the one with the 12`s.


the right hand tower

Anyway the story so far, I went along today but it seems no one knows what its all about.

Spoke with the receptionist who was very helpfull and she phoned around all sorts of people , but still nothing.

Eventually I was put in touch with a very nice lady, who said that she did know at one time what it meant but couldnt really remember lol

:-5

She took my email addy and said she would contact me , so I suppose i will just have to sit tight.

Oh I also got a nice brochure for free :-6 nice people

I finally got word about the clock face today, it seems that it was a mistake after all.

Here is the e-mail I received

Dear Sir



Your recently visited General Register House and asked about the clock at the top of the building and why there were two ‘12s’ on it.



At the time, I suspected that it was an error and, because it would have been too difficult and expensive to correct, it had never been changed. I have now had the chance to ask other colleagues about this and although this does not appear to be documented anywhere, there is general agreement that this was the reason for this anomaly. It is perhaps not the answer you were hoping for or terribly exciting, I’m afraid.



Thank you for your enquiry.









So there you have it folks, what a mistake to make.

My own feelings are it was probably a bit of fun from the clock maker , maybe he was owed some money and this was his way of getting back.

Scott