WHEN you turn back your clocks in the kitchen, lounge, bedroom and car this weekend, spare a thought for Dave Grayson.

The clock repairer will need all hands on deck when he puts 50 clocks back an hour at his shop.

Holden Wood Antiques owner Dave Grayston will stop his clocks this evening ((SAT)) in preparation for the switch-back.

Dave, whose Haslingden shop has supplied clocks for television dramas including ITV’s Mrs Biggs, Making of a Lady and Born and Bred, said it will take him around an hour to keep them ticking in time.

The veteran repairer and antique clock seller got into the trade at 19 after being influenced by his clock repairer grandfather and clock seller father.

Dave, 59, who restores clocks for jewellers such as Golden Times in Darwen and Marsden Jewellers in Clitheroe, as well as private customers, described his passion as a ‘labour of love’.

He worked part-time between shifts as a glazer for Accrington Glazing and as a transport general manager at Fresco Oils in Darwen until ill health allowed him to pursue his passion full-time in his 40s.

A former Clayton-le-Moors resident who now lives in Accrington, he said: “I’ll stop most of them this evening ((SAT)) then wind them on tomorrow because it’s a lot easier to stop them and turn them forward than it is to wind them back 12 hours.

“It takes a long time to build a clock restoration business and needs to be treated as a vocation rather than a job.

“I get a lot of pleasure in bringing clocks back to life but as it sometimes involves having to dismantle them time and time again to fix the problem, it’s a real labour of love.

“I find it really comforting to hear them ticking.

“I’ve been giving clocks to TV companies since 2002 but whereas before they used to buy them off me, they now just rent them because they don’t have much use for them after the drama finishes.

“It’s rewarding when they find a piece that matches the era of their drama and they appear on TV.”