Roger Little is a man passionate about timepieces and says he's always noticed the lack of public clocks in Canberra.
Roger is a horologist — or someone who makes and mends watches, clocks and other timepieces — and operates a small clock repair shop in Canberra's north alongside his son Mathew.
"And some of the watches are so beautifully made that the only people who see the beautiful work are the watchmakers."
Despite dedicating his life to restoring beautiful timepieces, Roger has never even purchased a watch — instead the three he's owned were won in a raffle, awarded as a prize and given as a gift from the factory where he worked.
For Roger, his love of horology also comes from appreciating time itself.
In the front of his shop is a framed poem that reads:
The Clock of Life
The clock of life is wound but once
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
Now is the only time you own
Live, love, toil with a will
Place no faith in tomorrow, for
The clock may then be still.
Canberra's oldest clock is actually a sundial
One of Roger's favourite things about travelling internationally, or even within Australia, is seeing grand public clocks.
It's something he's disappointed Canberra — as the national capital — is lacking.
There are, of course, a handful of public clocks dotted around Canberra, but very few are original features of historic buildings as they are in other cities.
And many, like the clock outside the ABC's Canberra studios, are digital.
Certainly Canberra does not have one recognisable landmark clock tower in the city centre that acts as a meeting or reference point.
And of the clocks that remain standing on older buildings, even fewer are in good working condition or displaying the correct time.
According to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) — of which Roger is a member — the oldest timepiece in Canberra is actually a sundial at St John's Church in Reid.
That sundial was originally erected in Camden in 1804 before being moved to the church in Canberra's north in 1933.
But, it's now been placed on display in the School House Museum on the church's grounds, with another sundial erected in its place.
So, largely hidden from the public's view, the original sundial joins a number of other clocks in Canberra scattered throughout the city and largely overlooked.
The post office in Civic's West Row boasts a minimalist design clock above its building, still keeping time.
Gungahlin town centre also plays host to a large, artsy timepiece — though it is now mostly hidden from view with the construction of light rail.
There is an old clock near the Bus Depot Markets in Kingston, though it hasn't entirely stood the test of time, with only some of it remaining in tact.
Roger says there also used to be a large clock in Woden, with the plaza even known as "clock court".
But he says the reason why Canberra has very few public clocks is actually because of time itself — and the relatively small amount of it that's passed since Canberra was established.
Canberra a city not reliant on public timekeepers
"Canberra's a very young city," Roger said.
"It was an age where people were wearing wristwatches, they didn't rely on the public timekeepers.
"In Europe or other cities in Australia public clocks were a necessity. You had to be fairly wealthy to buy a decent sort of a watch, so they were using pocket watches or relying on public clocks."
And Canberra, designed as the national capital, was established without a town hall to play host to a large public clock.
As an aside, Australia's largest home of political decisions, Parliament House, contains more than 2,500 clocks — though again most are hidden from view.
These days, Roger accepts that time has again moved on and most Canberrans just use their mobile phones as clocks.
"But it worries me how people will know which way is clockwise," he said.
He's not alone. Earlier this year alarm bells rang when a UK study found young people were struggling to read traditional clock faces.
But the concern is hardly a new one.
In his 1993 stand-up routine, comedian Dave Allen deftly summarised some of the difficulties that come with teaching children how to read the time.
"Now be a good boy and learn how to read the clock — and I'll buy you a digital watch."
Years later, fellow comedian Arj Barker described reading analogue watches as "having to solve a puzzle, where the only prize is knowing the time".
But for horologists like Roger, it's the story behind a timepiece that makes it special.
Roger says when it comes to public clocks he imagines the stories of people who, in a bygone era, used them as a place to connect with friends and family.
"Where do people meet in Canberra?," he asked.
