At the north end of London Bridge is an imposing building, looking straight down the bridge and often known as “The Gateway to the City”.
Every morning cycling into work I would check the time on the clock on it, with a lovely owl on top, and once again know I was late.
About 18 months ago I noticed that the clock on it had stopped.
Being an righteous person, I managed to get in touch with the store manager (this was House of Fraser) and pointed this out to him – he actually agreed to repair it.
However the months went by and nothing happened – until eventually House of Fraser itself went into administration.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45140874
Spookily within a few days of this happening the clock was working again!
Was this the curse of Athena? There is a statue to her on the left of the building, and the aforementioned owl above the clock is the sacred animal of Athena – perhaps she didn’t appreciate the neglect they showed her?
The building itself was the site of Lloyds Bank / Guardian Assurance company and built around 1919. It is the only clock we know of in the City with faces on the South, East and West sides.
The original symbol of the Guardian Assurance Company is indeed Athena (or Minerva) the goddess of wisdom, handicraft and warfare, born fully grown from Zeus’ forehead with her shield and spear.
And yet today to my intense disappointment I noticed that once again the clock is showing the wrong time. This was at about 9am – I paused my bike at great personal risk to take this shot.
I will attempt once more to defend the honour of Athena and right this injustice! I just need to find the new owners.
