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The Pips - Medley - Greenwich Time Signal

Feb 02, 2012, 10:18 PM Facebook twitter Google+

The tones have been sounded since February the 5th 1924; an idea of good old John Reith, who was not averse to precision. The Astronomer Royal, Sir Frank Watson Dyson, sorted out some mechanical clocks in the Royal Greenwich Observatory after chatting it over with the chap who invented the pendulum clock. Handy to have friends like that. Two clocks were used, in case one broke down. Belt and braces. It’s the unique way they’re funded. Mind you, they only cost twenty quid each.

The last pip used to be the same length as the others, but from the start of 1972 they made it longer so that you knew it was the last one. (Counting pips was not the answer owing to those rare occasions where time catching up with itself needed an extra pip. I’d love to have seen the ‘beware - last pip is now longer-‘ memo. Bet there was one.)

They’ve been used in a variety of ways over the years. A bored Noel Edmonds used to cheer himself up whilst on Radio One breakfast, usually by getting the last pip to hit the vocal. On this audio though, you’ll hear him indulge a little more; before an unfortunate Radio 4 clanger (beware- offensive word) where continuity announcer, Peter Jefferson, made his displeasure at tripping over his words all too clear (language alert); and then a piece of delicious Eddie Mair who converted his own pip mishap into a piece to fill a convenient gap later in PM.