Time In Your Hands: Dr James Nye

Chiltern Arts Festival 2023

Time In Your Hands: Dr James Nye

Clocks and watches are often intensely personal objects. They tend to outlive us and become imbued with significance, whether linked to family histories, or the marking of particular events (like birthdays or retirements), or just in being there as a constant presence, marking out the passage of our lives. They are not static objects, but dynamic, requiring care and attention to continue performing their task. 

We might complain of being enslaved by time, or sometimes wish it away in anxious anticipation. We might be comforted by a steady and peaceful ticking, or be driven to distraction – come what may we probably have a view, an emotion, or some reaction, when considering the timepieces on our wrists, our mantelpieces, and our buildings. 

Dr James Nye, 2022 Master of Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, is an historian of the measurement of time, and uncovers the stories told by clocks and watches, in his research, writing and lecturing, or when guiding in museums. In his talk, he will explore some of these stories, and weave in some of the reflections submitted by you the audience, in advance.