The weather has been rather mixed the last few weeks, but believe it or not, spring is here and this weekend sees the return of British Summer Time.
So, whether you wear a pocket watch, one of our classic men’s watches or simply have an antique grandfather clock in your hallway, don’t forget to put your clocks forward one hour on Sunday March 26th at 1am.
If the thought of one hour less for your Sunday slumber saddens you, just remember the days will now be longer, with extra light in the evenings for you to cram in some extra outdoor activities after work.
If you need a bit of a helping when it comes to which direction to wind your timepieces in Spring and Autumn, just remember the old saying, “spring forward, fall back”.
For those wondering why we do this, it was invented by New Zealand entomologist George Vincent Hudson in 1895, while British businessman William Willett is also credited with the idea as he was using it as a way of getting people up earlier so they had more daylight hours after the working day.
It was first widely used during WW1 by Austria and Germany, as a means to preserve the diminishing coal supply, before being used by the rest of the Allied forces.
Since it was first introduced, the UK has always had daylight savings time, it came into world-wide use during the 1970’s energy crisis.
There have many debates over the economic and health benefits it brings with a group of MP’s petitioning in 2010 and 2012 to move the clocks forward to Greenwich Mean Time plus one hour in the winter (GMT +1) and GMT +2 in the summer, with them arguing that it saves energy, reduces traffic accidents and crime and is beneficial for local businesses.
Those who were arguing against said the changes were not clear if energy savings would be made, while there would be potential health risks attached too.
One study did find that children’s health would be improved with an extra hour though, researchers used 23,000 children between the ages of 5-16 from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, England, Estonia, Madeira, Norway and the US. The children were fitted with an electronic device that kept track of their body movements throughout the day. The research showed that their daily activity levels increased by 20% during the summer months when the sun was setting after 9pm when compared to the winter days when it was dark early.
We would love it to stay lighter even longer during the summer months but those winter mornings could be a bit of struggle!
So don’t forget to put your antique watch forward by one hour this Sunday at 1am, and for all your antique timepiece needs visit Pieces of Time here.
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