even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day
tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock…
Gerald loved the design of his chrome based, nikel plated, black Bakelite and beige marble alarm clock.
7.15am on the 28th of May 1924: time to get out of bed. Today Gerald was going to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley; the greatest display of Britain’s colonial might since Hyde Park all those years ago.
In all the excitement of the hour, Gerald almost forgot his latest copy of ‘Metroland’ – a comprehensive guide to the exhibition - full of the Metropolitan Railway Company’s (MRC) brash confidence in their ability to transport the estimated 27million visitors along the line.
Baker Street to Wembley, he would be there in less than 25 minutes.
What a sight; thousands of people everywhere. But where to start? The Palace of Engineering (the worlds largest reinforced concrete building); The Flying Scotsman; The Empire Aquadome; The 150,000 capacity Empire Stadium; The India Pavilion; 58 countries on display over 216 acres…. Surely too much…
Gerald opted for the Palace of Arts, housing a series of rooms in the styles of 1750, the 1820’s and 1924. Leading furniture designer Waring & Gillow was in occupation, flaunting its replica Georgian Library, Chinese Lacquer Room, and best of all, the Bauhaus kitchen.
…1934 1944 1954 1964 1974…
tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock
The mint-blue swatch wall clock remained a mosquito-like irritant to Gerald. But he couldn’t even lift a finger. 7.15am on the 24th April 1984: time for his medicine.
After more than sixty years, the vast decaying land confined within the boundaries of Empire Way had become a bleak and foreboding sight. True, the Empire Stadium had gone on to become a national landmark, but it was surrounded by dereliction and faceless, brutal out-of-town office and retail parks. Only the Pavilion of Industry remained, unknowingly occupied by a parcel delivery service.
Gerald was in a similar state of decline. Not so far away from Wembley, in a nursing home in Southgate, he closed his eyes and lay to rest. Outside his residence, two ‘World Globe’ lights, set in classic modernist iron posts, stood tall and proud – they had in fact illuminated the entrance to the Empire exhibition for two years – and they still survive today, in this now forgotten corner of Metroland.
