[3]

A CITY clockmaker has urged the council to restore the Capital's 150-year-old time ball to its original condition.

Alan Wilson, of James Ritchie and Son [4], said the 760kg ball – the forerunner to the One o'Clock Gun [5] – should be operated manually, not automatically.

Once dropped from Calton Hill at 1pm every day, the time ball [6] has been out of action since it was damaged in storms last March.

Mr Wilson said: "There's been a lot of talk of it being automated and I feel that's a shame. Automation would rob the time ball of much of its charm."

Previous Tollcross Articles
Police seek hit and run witnesses [7]
Sean Connery's birthplace to be marked by developers [8]
Meadows ban on cyclists 'is illegal' [9]