Britain puts its clocks back one hour at 2am (1am GMT) on Sunday, giving most people a welcome extra hour in bed — but two cuckoo-clock enthusiasts will have precious little time on their hands.
Brothers Roman and Maz Piekarski have more than 500 clocks at their Cuckooland museum in Cheshire, north-west England.
And the task of winding back the mechanisms in the antique German clocks is going to take them all weekend.
“It is not as simple as changing a battery-powered clock because they are antiques, with all sorts of complicating factors,” said Roman (54). “It can put you in a real spin after a while, and I have been known to change dozens of clocks before realising I had already done them.
“It is a mammoth task but it has to be done, and it is a labour of love.”
The museum, which hosts one of the world’s largest collections of cuckoo clocks, also features clocks that mark the hour with quails, trumpeters and monks.
Meanwhile, those who suffer from the winter blues as British Summer Time ends and darkness sets in during the mornings and evenings are being given something to cheer them up.
A telephone helpline of “inspiring” sounds from the mountains and shorelines of the tranquil Lake District in north-west England has been set up to help those feeling depressed as the number of daylight hours dwindles.
It includes a reading of William Wordsworth’s poem Daffodils, the sound of Lake Windermere lapping against a jetty, the crisp crunch of leaves on a country walk, and Cumberland sausage sizzling in a pan. — AFP