The History of the ESC Clockwinders

Published 10:55 on 25 Jul 2023

The History of the ESC Clockwinders

The history of the Clockwinders goes back to the early 1990's at which time a group of ESC members who were engineers, met regularly on a Tuesday lunchtime to discuss, and invariably solve, practical problems at the Club. In addition they fulfilled over 20 years' of nautical duties by providing crews for Escort for Fed Week and for many other Club events. Between them, they also manned the bar for a period of time when no stewards were available.

In those days there was an 8-day brass clock situated behind the Club bar - a quality time piece with a German mechanism. Its origin is unknown, but it is thought to have come from a merchant ship that was to be decommissioned/scrapped. The Club Stewards at that time, Richard and Julia Clark, did not want the responsibility of winding the clock and so the job fell to volunteers from the Tuesday group.

One member of the group, Harry Manners, was a retired Royal Navy Officer and like similar members could regale the group with many a good story. In Harry's case, many were about the 1970's Icelandic Cod Wars to which he had been deployed. Harry was also a keen yachtsman and owned a Seadog sailing ketch on which he kept an electric brass clock whose origin was also unknown.

When Harry died, his widow Caroline presented this brass clock to the Club. It was hung behind the bar, where it remains, and the old 8-day brass clock was moved to the east wall of the clubroom. The Tuesday volunteers continued to wind the latter weekly, a rota having been instigated by one of the Club's Trustees, Roger Bleasby, and the group became known as the 'Clockwinders'. Most recently the winding was done by Alan Stewart-FitzRoy and Frank Bailey (the Club's longest-serving member), but early in 2023 it was mutually agreed that the arrangements should change, and the clock, now hanging on the south wall of the clubroom, is now wound every Monday morning by the office team.

To commemorate the group, Frank Bailey (an accomplished artist) completed a portrait painting of all the Clockwinders against a background of the interior of the Club, and for a short time it was hung in a prominent place in the clubroom. Sadly, one of those depicted subsequently acted in a way that was detrimental to the Club, and it was felt that displaying the picture was no longer appropriate, so it was removed and now resides at Frank's house.

In summary, the Clockwinders is a group of, mostly, more mature and longstanding ESC members, who meet socially on Tuesday and Friday lunchtimes in the Club bar. They have convivial lunches four times a year (at the spring and autumn equinoxes, and when the clocks change), at which the group's members enjoy reminiscing about their sailing days as well as supporting each other's wellbeing.

Over time, many of the Clockwinders have passed to higher places, and other Club members 'aged 60+ oldies' have joined these lunches, and there are currently approximately 20 members.

Acknowledgements:

Original Tuesday group members - Alan Stewart-Fitzroy, Ade Fox, David Lees, Roger Bleasby, Frank Bailey, Alan Davies, Harry Manners (dec'd), Doug Gafford (dec'd), Ged Grieve (dec'd), Michael Turnbull (dec'd), Charles Harwood-Mathews (dec'd).

Contributors:

Alan Davies, John Williams, Frank Bailey, Ade Fox, David Lees.

July 2023