Good Directions

Good Directions Ltd proudly presents this 680mm bespoke clock which was produced for the high-end eatery ‘The Wolseley’, who are situated in Piccadilly in London.   Pattern Being Made   Prior to the job commencing, the customer sent us photographs of the old clock which used to be in place at the establishment. This was to allow us to lovingly create a replica of said clock down to the last detail. We achieved this by utilising a variety of traditional and modern techniques together with top engineering skills that we have learned throughout our three decades in clock manufacturing. Our engineers worked from drawings provided by the customer to create hand carved patterns, from which moulds were taken to then create the stunning moulded detailing for the bezel surround in GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) to recreate the fruit detailing which existed on the original clock.   Pattern ready to be sprayed Using a silicone mould to ensure pinpoint precision allowed us to c...

In 2012 local residents in Burley held many fund raising activities to celebrate the Queens diamond jubilee. When all the celebrations were over the Parish Council were left with a small surplus of money and decided to ask the residents what they would like to do with it. T he majority view had a leaning towards providing something permanent for the village, which would mark the Queens Jubilee, be sympathetic to the environment and benefit the village as a whole. The Parish Council gave the community the opportunity to put forward ideas on what shape this would take and the idea of a clock on the form of a village sign was suggested and received popular support. The project has taken place under the leadership of Councillor Neal Martin, who contacted Good Directions to work with local artist Suzan Houching who has been involved in the design aspects of the clock. It was important to ensure that the design was a true reflection of the village and captured the essence of Burl...

 Clock celebrating 100th episode of Grand Designs  This autumn Channel 4's flagship design show reached its 100 th episode and Kevin McCloud launched his book '100 Best Grand Designs'. So what better way to celebrate such miles stones, at the Grand Designs Live exhibition in the NEC, than with custom designed clocks for the event. Clock features have often been used over the decades not just to note the passing of time but also to celebrate it. Clocks of all styles and sizes have often been erected to commemorate Coronations and Jubilee's, as memorials to fallen heroes, denote anniversaries, celebrate centenaries or mark a special event such as at this exhibition. Central to the show is the 'Grand Theatre' for which we designed a modern clock sculpture. Featuring two clock faces on a blue sphere supported by six sweeping stainless steel legs, the clock feature was surrounded by matching stainless steel seating. The clocks were controlled by ...

Good Directions manufactured skeleton style clock to suit stonework Good Directions Ltd has restored a clock on the retained façade of an old grammar school building in Banbury to mark the site’s £9.7 million redevelopment of the Stanbridge Hall building into a housing scheme for the over-55s. The clock began ticking again during a special ceremony where representatives from the involved organisations met at the site, which in now complete and known as Stanbridge House. Starting the clock at a special ceremony Planners were keen to retain elements of the site’s former use, planning its interior design to reflect previous features, as well as the cleaning and restoring the original façade, including re-instating the clock . We were asked to manufacture a Skeleton style clock on a white backing to exactly fit the original decorative stonework on the building, with an extended shaft to house the mechanism the other side of the wall. The replacement clock is fitted with our cl...

New shop front complemented with a custom designed clock Gift Retailer of the year 'Temptation' decided to celebrate winning this year by giving its Amersham store a face lift. Having had one of their stores in Amersham for over 20 years they decided they would like to give something back to the community and designed a large exterior clock matching their corporate style, to take pride of place above the shop front. The beautiful deep green colour used throughout their stores and on their website could be matched perfectly for the GRP clock (as can any colour with a matching BS or RAL code). Gold hands and numerals were chosen for the clock in a clear and simple design to match the typeface used on the shop signage. Clocks are still a very popular addition to any shop front hoping to stand out from the crowd. Clocks always seem to have a magnetism that catches the eye in a way that simply a shop name cannot do. The 'shop with a clock' makes for a memorable pla...

Good Directions Ltd have manufactured a large scale version of a gold pocket watch to create a centre piece in a Wetherspoons pub. To see a video of our manufacturing process please click on this link: http://youtu.be/QHaEIYLXDjI

Good Directions Ltd were pleased to see that 'Ecclesiastical and Heritage World' magazine chose their Big Ben replica, manufactured for the new signature room in Harrods, to feature in their latest issue of the magazine. The scaled version of Big Ben stands 2.4m high and replicates exactly the four clock faces, with their black numerals and gold detailing, back illumination and chiming system programmed to mark each quarter of an hour and strike on the hour. The clocks are also fitted with a state of the art controller to automatically change all four clocks at the summer and winter time changes and deal with any power failures that may occur. To read the article in full you can see it clearly on their website: http://www.ecclesiasticalandheritageworld.co.uk/component/content/article/399 Also to see other examples of our clocks please visit: http://www.exterior-clocks.co.uk/ or for our full range of products visit: http://www.good-directions.co.uk/ For any enquiries please con...

Disney has unveiled its new showcase store in Oxford Street, which became the biggest in Europe when it opened on 2 nd June. The centrepiece is a 28 foot high castle which sits in the middle of the store and is the first thing to be seen when walking in. Good Directions Ltd were asked to manufacture a specially designed clock specifically to suit the castle. The clock is in typical Disney fairytale style with beautiful ornate gold hands, yellow and gold chapters back lit with static white lights and the centre of the dial back illuminated with multi coloured changing LED lights. The clock is controlled by one of our clock resynchronisers, which will automatically restart the clock after any power failures and is pre-programmed to alter the clock at the summer and winter time changes for the next 20 years.   A launch party was held at the new store, where guests including Claudia Winkleman, Ben Fogle and Tom Hollander sampled the store with their families. Jonathan Storey...

Some weeks ago we were approached by Paul Cook, the proprietor of hair salon 'Hair Concepts' to design and manufacture a feature clock to go on his new premises in Banbury. The building was formerly a warehouse for a wine merchants, which Mr Cook has sympathetically transformed with his team of Architect, builder and shop fitters to recreate a period building typical of Banbury town centre. The clock is now a unique landmark above the shop, appropriately featuring hands in the shape of scissors and the words 'It is hair time' in place of traditional numerals around the clock face. With back illumination behind the dial the clock is highly visible both day and night. In keeping with traditional clocks the bezel surround, although manufactured by Good Directions in modern GRP material in a colour to match the rendering, it is designed to look like raised stonework around the clock. Using GRP instead of stone however means that it can be manufactured to suit the clock size...

  Good Directions was excited to receive an enquiry to manufacture a replica of Big Ben for Harrods prestigious London themed signature room, which was designed and recently installed by Prop Studios. Harrods Signature Room, home to their branded products and souvenirs, has been given a complete new look thanks to a range of iconic replicas of London buildings and British landmarks. The room has been themed with large-scale models of iconic British landmarks, which include Tower bridge, Big Ben and traditional telephone boxes. We were asked to manufacture four working clocks to exactly replicate a scaled version of Big Ben’s actual clock faces. The dials were produced in white opal acrylic with black numerals and gold detailing, with back illumination behind each face. Standing 2.4 metres tall the Big Ben makes for an impressive addition to the scheme.  Inside the clock feature our Total Control system is fitted to keep all the clocks acc...

It was an exciting moment as many people watched the replacement clock we manufactured for the Royal Borough of Windsor being lowered into the pavement in Thames Street, the exact spot where the original clock had been placed over fifty years previously. Lowering the pavement clock into the ground at Windsor The original clock was installed on May 15, 1950, by former Windsor Mayor and owner of Dysons, Sir Cyril Dyson. Sadly the clock was removed many years ago and its wareabouts is now unknown but the council wanted to re-instate an important part of Windsor's heritage and so approached us to manufacture a replacement. Grandaughter of original clock maker with the Mayor at the unveiling of the new clock Dyson's grandaughter Caroline Fox, whose father Geoffrey Dyson took over the family business until it closed in the 1980s, proudly watched as Mayor Cllr Catherine Bursnall, unveiled the new clock. Mrs Fox, from Maidenhead, said: "It is very emotional, I feel m...

Having manufactured a 3000mm skeleton style clock for a school in Baku we were approached by our agent to come up with design concepts for a new time feature to be the largest clock in Baku, situated in a prominent position on the main route through the city centre used by the President daily. The chosen building was a typical Soviet apartment block with no detail and little character, which was to be refurbished and embelished around the new clock. Having decided on a large 5000mm Skeleton style clock with LED illumination to both the chapters and hands we had to overcome the difficulties in manufacturing and exporting the clock for installation by our client. To ensure the dial was lightweight but strong it was decided to fabricate the chapters in Aluminium box section welded between rolled angle rings. The dial was formed in four pieces with rear bolt flanges for ease of transportation. The hands were waterjet cut in Aluminium with additional strengthening ribs down the ...

Over the last 20 years we have built a reputation for manufacturing large exterior clocks so we were pleased to receive an enquiry to manufacture a very special bespoke exterior clock for a new park in Azerbaijan.   New clock feature in landscaped park in Baku, Azerbaijan  The structure was to be 4m high with a stainless steel clock supported in the middle with green LED illuminated spikes for hour markers and stainless steel LED illuminated hands.   Close up of spike being illuminated with LED's Using the latest CAD programme and 3D design package we provided detailed drawings of the clock feature and supplied photographs of work in progress throughout the project. As the clock was to be exported and installed by others drawings for installation were also provided.   3D design package with installation instructions  The clock feature now takes pride of place in a new landscaped park outside a brand new development, part of a massive r...

As part of an ongoing regeneration scheme across Baku in Azerbaijan we have been working with our agent to design, manufacture and supply large exterior clocks to feature in parks and cities across the region. Artist impression of exterior clock feature Working from an artist impression of what was required we were asked to manufacture two large dials with raised numerals at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions with front LED illumination. Clock feature outside new development The limestone structure stands 8.6m high and is positioned in a newly lanscaped park next to a residential area with a 2500mm diameter clock facing in each direction. To see other examples of our clocks in Azerbaijan and other countries please visit our website http://www.good-directions.com/ . Clock feature illuminated at night

The installation of a new clock in Bingham marked the culmination of a competition run by Toot Hill School on behalf of the town council.   The finished clock, designed by 12-year-old Mollie Grice, was unveiled at a special school assembly. Town Crier Peter Taunton announced the unveiling to pupils at the school before heading to Bingham Market Place to tell residents the clock would be installed. Mollie was one of five finalists shortlisted for the chance of having their design turned into a £10,000 community clock, funded by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Local Improvement Scheme.  Mollie said she was delighted with the finished clock and was very proud it would now be centre stage in her local town. “I think it looks brilliant and I’m really excited to let people know it was my design,” Mollie added. The numbers have been laid on using 24-carat golf leaf, a very durable, hard-wearing material. The numbers six and 12 have been replaced with the town council’s Buttercr...