Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2010/January 2011 | Page 192

island business

Island Life - December 2010

Taking time for
excellent service
“What usually happens is a new

who moved his

customer will come with a little clock

long-established

and if they’re happy, which they usually

clock restoration

are, they’ll come back with a better

business into the

clock, then an even better one.” David

building in 1996,

Wynn grins knowing. “Someone who

calling it The Old

likes clocks hasn’t just got one, they’ve

Village Clock

got half a dozen plus!”

Shop to reflect its

Once discovered, the shop is an

long association

endless source of fascination. Bells

with clocks. This

get ‘marriages’, where you get dials

chime and mechanisms whirl. The

was the building’s centenary year.

fitted to the wrong movements, and

slow and rhythmic tock tock from

Erected in 1896 for James Dimmick,

put into the wrong case – we don’t

the polished long cases is suddenly

Clockmaker to the Queen, it was called

sell those.” He prides himself, too,

subsumed by cheery bells, somnolent

The Illuminated Clock because the clock

on sympathetic restoration –“not

chimes and even the cry of a lone

which sits atop the building was lit by

overdone” – and the sort of after sales

cuckoo. “A lever lifts the tail, which

gas lamp. Watchmaker Thomas Alfred

service that is almost a part of history

triggers the beak and the wings to

Awty later took it on, and his son John

itself. “I don’t give a timed guarantee, I

open,” he explains, as we watch the

ran it until the 1970s.

honour the work I do.”

130-year old German bird pop out of

Under Ron, and now David, the shop

Somehow you feel the old Queen’s

its housing. David, of course, is privy to

became known for its unsurpassed

clockmaker would be impressed.

the workings of every tiny part of every

expertise.

The Old Village Clock Shop, Moa Place,

piece in the shop.
He learnt all his skills from Ron Tayler,

“We pride ourselves on ‘honest’

Freshwater. Tel: [phone]

clocks,” says David. “Sometimes you

Storing up a great idea
Employee Monica French jokingly

hassle free, providing

claims it took her two years to

customers with the

convince boss Brian Russell to open

extra space as and

the Wight Self Storage business at

when they need it.

Manners View, Dodnor Industrial

Monica explained:

Estate, Newport.

“We undertake both

Now four years on, both agree it has

domestic and business

been well worthwhile. Monica said: “I

storage, and can take

saw similar units on the mainland and

almost anything. Sofas,

thought it would be a good idea to

wardrobes, sideboards,

have one here on the Island.”

tools, carpets,

Wight Self Storage is a custom

lawnmowers, garden

designed store, with individual

furniture, jet skis, motorbikes even the

lockable units of varying sizes

kitchen sink!

dependant on needs, and has clients

“We store a lot of furniture and also

from right across the Island. The size

have a couple of businesses who use

of units vary from 25sq ft to 200sq

the facility as stock rooms. Everything

ft and the company are able to

we store is stored on site. A lot of

professionally advise on packing tips

people tend to buy smaller places

and materials, and even supply a little

these days that perhaps don’t have a

extra man power if required.

garage, so they can use our storage

They take pride in ensuring self
storage is straightforward and

192

space more or less as a garden shed,
for example where they can put their

garden furniture in the winter.”
If a company needs archive space
for documents and business effects
Wight Self Storage can also help, and
they guarantee all units are clean, dry,
safe and secure. Clients have their
own keys so they can choose what
and when to take things out or add to
their storage, and long term contract
discounts are available.
Tel: [phone]

Visit our new website - www.visitislandlife.com