Barrow is a child of the railway age and, as a new kid in town, a particularly bratty and self-confident one it was in its Victorian prime. Railways brought the idea of the timetable, and thus the public clock, and Barrow had to have plenty of them. It was a kind of municipal bling-bling.
This clock once adorned McDowell’s, a long-defunct gentleman’s outfitters in Cavendish Street. The shop is now a maternity wear emporium, but the clock remains, proudly restored a few years ago by shipyard apprentices. This kind of barrel clock was never all that common and very few now survive.
Posted by enitharmon 
