History of the clock
The 'Nick of Time' Newport Clock was originally commissioned to represent Newport at Garden Festival Wales in Ebbw Vale in 1992. Ebbw Vale was chosen as the last British Garden Festival site because of the waste land in the town which had previously been the British Steel (Corus) steel and tin works, part of which had been demolished in the early 1980s. The festival began on 1 May 1992 and ran until 4 October 1992
The clock was produced by renowned urban architectural sculptor Andy Plant. The creator describes his unique one-off creation as follows:
“A 30’ high stainless steel triumphal arch built to represent Newport at the Welsh Garden Festival... The feature is a cross between a cuckoo clock and an espresso machine, it has been billed as the only ‘white knuckle’ clock in the world. Skeletons appear, smoke oozes from the cracks, several tons of steel fall apart and come to rest revealing the inhabitants asleep, a band of angel mechanics. A cuckoo wakes them, they start to rewind the clock weight, and the whole structure reforms itself ready for the next hour”.
The clock was Newport’s contribution to the festival event at an overall cost of £100,000, but on the basis that the clock would be returned to Newport after the Festival for the benefit of the residents of Newport. After the closure of the festival event, the site’s exhibits were cleared to make way for regeneration projects and the clock was relocated to John Frost Square.
The clock proved to be a popular attraction with residents and visitors alike. The combination of moving mechanical parts and other physical actions meant that it soon became a well-known part of the cultural and architectural fabric of the city.
As well as anecdotal and social media based support for the clock, its historic importance and provenance is noted by its presence on the website of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, listed as “AUTOMATON, CLOCK TOWER, IN THE NICK OF TIME, JOHN FROST SQUARE, NEWPORT”.
However, the clock was designed to be mechanically robust enough to last for just the six months of the festival. As time progressed the clock became prone to frequent electronic and mechanical failure. To repair the clock became increasingly challenging due to the ‘arts & crafts’ nature of its construction, limited technical expertise of its unique construction and electronic workings, both of which had increasing costs. Eventually the clock remained in situ as a static sculpture and working timepiece.
