My time as the speaking clock

Ask young people today if they know that they can dial a number to hear the time and you would probably be met with blank stares. Why would you pay to phone a speaking clock when the time is right there in front of you on your watch or phone screen?

However, if you were young in bygone days you may have memories of getting parental permission to phone ‘TIM’ and hear somebody telling the time… precisely. In fact, every year millions of people still phone this service – now the BT Speaking Clock – almost 90 years after its introduction.

It was launched by the Post Office on 24 July 1936 and was aimed at folk who did not have a clock or watch to hand. Before that you had to phone the exchange operator to settle any dispute as to what the correct time was and, of course, mechanical timepieces were not always reliable.