GMT Blues
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GMT Blues
I have sunk into my annual BST/GMT-related depression, and one day soon I really will start a campaign to stop this hideous nonsense of putting the clocks back. [Note - no balance to this argument - I am too old for my body to be messed around in this way, and we all know the 'extra hour in bed' is a complete con as soon as you have given birth. Sheep farmers in Aberdeen - you are welcome to it, but you can have it all to yourself as far as I'm concerned - Scots Standard Time or whatever]. I note that the mods aren't up yet, or else have decided to see sense and leave forum time as GMT-1...it is though a little odd to see some posts haven't actually happened yet, though appear there in black and white.
Need an emoticon with black rings under the eyes. Thought about the sunglasses one but it is way too cheerful and loud.
Need an emoticon with black rings under the eyes. Thought about the sunglasses one but it is way too cheerful and loud.
Re: GMT Blues
i had a trial run at it last week, when i got the weekend wrong and altered my watch last Sunday morning
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hermanmunster
- Posts: 12894
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
- Location: The Seaside
Re: GMT Blues
yep - got to work last sunday morning and we all had slight panic that we were an hour early as there were no patients - reassured that we had not got the wrong week eventually..! I hate it - tonight will feel like I am working until midnight and not 11 which it will be ... I remember the experiment 68-71 when they left it at BST all year - it was horrendously dark in the mornings (but no worse then St Petersburg on a normal december morning) - we survived the whole thing and I would be happy if it happened again
Re: GMT Blues
doesn't bother me, doesn't make much difference. I measure the time by whatever it is I am doing not whether it "should" be something else. Mornings are always far too early and ghastly whatever arbitrary number on a clock is tagged to them. Don't like it getting dark before the kids come out of school but always see it as an inevitable long trudge downhill to Christmas at which point the days start getting that tiniest bit longer again and one can head for spring. Huzzah. At which point they steal an hour from my bed (gggrrrr).
Re: GMT Blues
Actually I'm with Milla on this one - I'm a bit of a late bird really and it feels as though I've been given an hour's grace to catch up with everything! Of course the opposite happens when the clocks go forward - I hate losing that hour and spend several weeks trying to catch up in the mornings!
However, despite all that and at the risk of sounding contradictory, I do really like light evenings so would be all for any proposal to bring us (or at least England and Wales) into the same time zone as mainland Europe. I remember an idyllic summer in southern France when daylight lasted until quite late into the night. And it doesn't have to be against Scotland's interests - they have their own parliament, their own educational system (including free universities for all European citizens except English ones ... don't get me started... ) so why shouldn't they have their own time zone as well? 
However, despite all that and at the risk of sounding contradictory, I do really like light evenings so would be all for any proposal to bring us (or at least England and Wales) into the same time zone as mainland Europe. I remember an idyllic summer in southern France when daylight lasted until quite late into the night. And it doesn't have to be against Scotland's interests - they have their own parliament, their own educational system (including free universities for all European citizens except English ones ... don't get me started...
) so why shouldn't they have their own time zone as well? Marylou
Re: GMT Blues
I quite like dark mornings - candles at breakfast - and you know it's getting lighter, so by the time the day really begins, it's light. The thing which really annoys me is that it is all based on a lie about a road accident which never really happened, killing a fictitious number of children. I like the light in the evening too - something very depressing about children getting home in the dark. You are obviously much younger than me Milla - when you reach a certain age, these things start to hit you.
Re: GMT Blues
I was always led to believe that daylight savings came into effect during the war (which one I'm not too sure of actually) and it was so the farmers could get their crops in during harvest and a longer day during winter to do what they needed (really technical use of language there you notice 
). The argument with regards to motor accidents and children have been brought to the fore in recent years as an explanation as to why the daylight savings should remain in place .............. but I'm open to differing opinions of course 
). The argument with regards to motor accidents and children have been brought to the fore in recent years as an explanation as to why the daylight savings should remain in place .............. but I'm open to differing opinions of course 
Re: GMT Blues
From the National Maritime Museum's website:
British Summer TimeA
2007 marked 100 years since British Summer Time was first proposed by William Willett. Changing the clocks for summer time is now an annual ritual in Britain and countries around the world. But why change the clocks, which way should they go, and whose idea was it in the first place?
William Willett saves the daylight, 1907–15
Bridle path through Petts Wood ©NMM. Repro ID: F6423-039 The idea of British Summer Time (BST), also known as Daylight Saving Time, was first proposed in Britain by a keen horse-rider, William Willett, who was incensed at the 'waste' of useful daylight first thing in the morning, during summer. Though the sun had been up for hours during his rides through the local woods in Chislehurst and Petts Wood, people were still asleep in bed.
Willett was not the first to propose such a scheme; in 1895 an entomologist in New Zealand, George Vernon Hudson, presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society outlining a daylight saving scheme which was eventually trialled successfully in New Zealand in 1927.
In 1907 Willett published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, outlining plans to encourage people out of bed earlier in summer by changing the time on the nation’s clocks. He spent the rest of his life fighting to get acceptance of his time-shifting scheme. He died in 1915 with the Government still refusing to back BST. But the following year, Germany introduced the system. Britain followed in May 1916, and we have been 'changing the clocks' ever since.
The first day of Summer Time, 1916
Home Office poster announcing restoration of Greenwich Time, 1916 ©Private collection Britain first adopted William Willett's Daylight Saving Time scheme in 1916, a few weeks after Germany. For years, the British Government had refused to introduce Daylight Saving Time, but by then, Britain and Germany were fighting each other in the First World War (1914-18), and any system that could save fuel and money was worth trying. The Summer Time Act of 1916 was quickly passed by Parliament and the first day of British Summer Time, 21 May 1916, was widely reported in the press.
Clocks and watches were very different from those we use today. Many clocks could not have their hands turned backwards without breaking the mechanism. Instead, owners had to put the clock forward by 11 hours when Summer Time came to an end. The Home Office put out special posters telling people how to reset their clocks to GMT, and national newspapers also gave advice.
Changing times, 1918–39
The Willett memorial in Petts Wood ©NMM. Repro ID: F6423-060 William Willett, the tireless champion of the Summer Time scheme, died in 1915. By the 1920s, however, he was becoming a posthumous hero, as more and more people backed his daylight-saving plan. Public money was raised to buy and preserve Petts Wood. This was partly to act as a living memorial to Willett, but mostly as local residents wanted to prevent building development encroaching on their green spaces. A sundial – keeping British Summer Time, not Greenwich Mean Time – was erected there in a clearing.
Willett had become an icon of daylight. A portrait was painted; a bronze bust was sculpted; a pub was named in his memory, and in 1931 a wax figure was unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s in London. But not everybody had come round to Willett's way of thinking: over the subsequent years, dissenting voices were heard.
Permanent summer, 1968–71
In 1968, the clocks went forward as usual in March, but in the autumn, they did not return to Greenwich Mean Time. Britain had entered a three-year experiment, confusingly called British Standard Time, and stayed one hour ahead of Greenwich until 1971.
This was not the first experiment to shift the clocks in winter. In the Second World War (1939-45), Britain had adopted Double British Summer Time, with the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich in winter and two hours ahead in summer.
When the British Standard Time experiment ended, the Home Office carried out an exhaustive review to find out whether it had been successful. The answer was both yes and no. There were ‘pros and cons’ to having the clocks forward and, on balance, the Government decided to return to the original British Summer Time.
A century of saving daylight, 1907–2007
Within a few years of its introduction, most countries reasonably north or south of the equator had adopted Daylight Saving Time. But it has been controversial since the day it was first proposed.
After a century of daylight saving, we still cannot agree on whether it is a good thing or not. When proposals to extend the system are occasionally made in Parliament, protest soon comes from those affected by its disadvantages. Daylight Saving Time tries to treat a complex network of symptoms with one solution. But not everybody sees it as a cure. So the debate continues
British Summer TimeA
2007 marked 100 years since British Summer Time was first proposed by William Willett. Changing the clocks for summer time is now an annual ritual in Britain and countries around the world. But why change the clocks, which way should they go, and whose idea was it in the first place?
William Willett saves the daylight, 1907–15
Bridle path through Petts Wood ©NMM. Repro ID: F6423-039 The idea of British Summer Time (BST), also known as Daylight Saving Time, was first proposed in Britain by a keen horse-rider, William Willett, who was incensed at the 'waste' of useful daylight first thing in the morning, during summer. Though the sun had been up for hours during his rides through the local woods in Chislehurst and Petts Wood, people were still asleep in bed.
Willett was not the first to propose such a scheme; in 1895 an entomologist in New Zealand, George Vernon Hudson, presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society outlining a daylight saving scheme which was eventually trialled successfully in New Zealand in 1927.
In 1907 Willett published a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, outlining plans to encourage people out of bed earlier in summer by changing the time on the nation’s clocks. He spent the rest of his life fighting to get acceptance of his time-shifting scheme. He died in 1915 with the Government still refusing to back BST. But the following year, Germany introduced the system. Britain followed in May 1916, and we have been 'changing the clocks' ever since.
The first day of Summer Time, 1916
Home Office poster announcing restoration of Greenwich Time, 1916 ©Private collection Britain first adopted William Willett's Daylight Saving Time scheme in 1916, a few weeks after Germany. For years, the British Government had refused to introduce Daylight Saving Time, but by then, Britain and Germany were fighting each other in the First World War (1914-18), and any system that could save fuel and money was worth trying. The Summer Time Act of 1916 was quickly passed by Parliament and the first day of British Summer Time, 21 May 1916, was widely reported in the press.
Clocks and watches were very different from those we use today. Many clocks could not have their hands turned backwards without breaking the mechanism. Instead, owners had to put the clock forward by 11 hours when Summer Time came to an end. The Home Office put out special posters telling people how to reset their clocks to GMT, and national newspapers also gave advice.
Changing times, 1918–39
The Willett memorial in Petts Wood ©NMM. Repro ID: F6423-060 William Willett, the tireless champion of the Summer Time scheme, died in 1915. By the 1920s, however, he was becoming a posthumous hero, as more and more people backed his daylight-saving plan. Public money was raised to buy and preserve Petts Wood. This was partly to act as a living memorial to Willett, but mostly as local residents wanted to prevent building development encroaching on their green spaces. A sundial – keeping British Summer Time, not Greenwich Mean Time – was erected there in a clearing.
Willett had become an icon of daylight. A portrait was painted; a bronze bust was sculpted; a pub was named in his memory, and in 1931 a wax figure was unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s in London. But not everybody had come round to Willett's way of thinking: over the subsequent years, dissenting voices were heard.
Permanent summer, 1968–71
In 1968, the clocks went forward as usual in March, but in the autumn, they did not return to Greenwich Mean Time. Britain had entered a three-year experiment, confusingly called British Standard Time, and stayed one hour ahead of Greenwich until 1971.
This was not the first experiment to shift the clocks in winter. In the Second World War (1939-45), Britain had adopted Double British Summer Time, with the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich in winter and two hours ahead in summer.
When the British Standard Time experiment ended, the Home Office carried out an exhaustive review to find out whether it had been successful. The answer was both yes and no. There were ‘pros and cons’ to having the clocks forward and, on balance, the Government decided to return to the original British Summer Time.
A century of saving daylight, 1907–2007
Within a few years of its introduction, most countries reasonably north or south of the equator had adopted Daylight Saving Time. But it has been controversial since the day it was first proposed.
After a century of daylight saving, we still cannot agree on whether it is a good thing or not. When proposals to extend the system are occasionally made in Parliament, protest soon comes from those affected by its disadvantages. Daylight Saving Time tries to treat a complex network of symptoms with one solution. But not everybody sees it as a cure. So the debate continues
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chicko-mum
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:19 pm
Re: GMT Blues
I had no idea. I thought it was to do with farmers, road safety etc as well. I think it should be scrapped, I just end up getting confused twice a year about whether the clocks go forward or back
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hermanmunster
- Posts: 12894
- Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
- Location: The Seaside
Re: GMT Blues
chicko-mum wrote:I had no idea. I thought it was to do with farmers, road safety etc as well. I think it should be scrapped, I just end up getting confused twice a year about whether the clocks go forward or back
Spring Forward and Fall Back (pity we have to use an americanism for this
)