Floral Clock Day takes place on Tuesday

Floral Clock Day takes place on Tuesday. The mechanism for the clock installed inside the Allan Ramsay statue in 1903, was manufactured by James Ritchie & Son with parts taken from Elie Church tower clock in Fife.

From 1905 onwards, a mechanism consisting of two organ bellows and organ pipes was added to reproduce the sound of a cuckoo every fifteen minutes.

In 1950 as the cuckoo call had become almost inaudible due to the noise of the city's traffic, it was decided to install a new sound system, including a loudspeaker.

A model cuckoo carved by Mr George Robertson was also added which popped out every fifteen minutes. The Floral Clock operated mechanically and had to be wound daily.

In 1973 James Ritchie & Son converted the mechanism so that the horticultural timepiece is now electrically driven.

This week’s photograph courtesy of Edinburgh Parks & Greenspace Department shows the Floral Clock in 1913.