Why have I got two minute hands?

The clock on this building with an extra minute hand recalls early Victorian days, when Bristol was in two minds about the correct time.

We take Greenwich Mean time or British Summer time for granted now but before 1880 no standard time existed in the British Isles. Every city had its own local time, reckoned by the sun and signed by church bells.

Bristol lies 2 degrees, 36 minutes west of the Greenwich Meridian and so the sun reaches its noon peak 11 minutes later than in Greenwich. Before the growth of railways, most people expected to spend their lives close to home. Travel by stagecoach or ship was slow and uncomfortable. Timetables were vague.

For Bristolians a change came in June 1841, when the first through train from London pulled into Temple Meads station. Brunel's Great Western Railway began to tempt people to travel, they could get to London in hours rather than days.

The Railways ran on London time (Greenwich Mean Time). If you wanted to catch a train at noon from Temple Meads you had to remember that it would pull out at 11.49 Bristol Time.

To help Bristolians catch their train, Bristol Corporation arranged for this main public clock on the Corn Exchange to show both local and Greenwich Mean time (Railway Time) with two minute hands. Other clocks in Bristol followed suit.

In September 1852 Bristol adopted GMT and Bristol time became the same as London.