Whenever I visit Cambridge close to where I live, I always have to stop and admire its latest attraction which has become very popular with tourist – a £1 million golden clock created by an incredible inventor, Dr John Taylor, for his old college. It is an amazing legacy, and always attracts huge crowds who, like me, are fascinated by the movements of the giant pendulum driven grasshopper which sits on top. It is totally absorbing to watch.

It was officially set in motion by Prof Stephen Hawking in September 2008 and is fixed to the outside of Corpus Christi College on King’s Parade.  Dr Taylor has now designed a unique sequel called the Midsummer Chronophage will be unveiled on 24 June, Midsummer Day. It has an an even more startling beast like creature at the head of the golden timepiece; this mythical looking creature, while using its front foot to pull on the clock’s gears as its predecessor does, also has wings, a sting, and a sinister blinking eyelid.

The new timepiece will also  differ in its workings to reflect the different perception of time that people have; some minutes on the Midsummer Chronophage will race by, others will drag, some will disappear and others will appear to stand still. Every five minutes, the clock will then “correct” itself, and start the same process. That is so ingenious, and these thoughts are very similar to how Salvador Dali portrayed time with his melted clockfaces.

Chris Elliott describes how these timepieces have been painstakingly made in the Cambridge News:

“The mechanism of the monster clocks pays homage to the brilliance of John Harrison, the 18th century English clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, the device that allowed sailors to establish the East-West position, or longitude, of a ship at sea. One of Harrison’s clock-making triumphs was the grasshopper escapement, a device that releases the clock’s gears to move forward by a fixed distance after a constant number of swings of a pendulum.

‘The escapement designed by Harrison was so-called because its metal parts resembled the outline of a grasshopper, and Dr Taylor took that a stage further by encasing his version of the escapement in a metal sculpture of the insect.

“The innards of the timepiece are a mass of cogs and wheels, of differing sizes, but there are no hands to tell the time. The seconds, minutes and hours are revealed by a combination of electronics and mechanics.

“There is no computer programming. Electricity is used, but only to power a small motor which winds up the mechanism and runs a set of blue light-emitting diodes. These shine through slits on the front face, propelled in a circular motion reminiscent of a zoetrope, to tell the seconds and minutes.

“Making the face of the clock is also a remarkable procedure. A template of the design has to be blasted onto a 1.5 metre diameter stainless steel sheet – using a depth charge – underwater. This is not done in England, but in Holland, and it is later plated in 24 carat gold.”

The word Chronophage literally means Time-Eater from the Greek: Chronos [Time] and Phago [I eat]. The Midsummer Chronophage has no hands or numbers but displays time by aligning slits in discs behind the clock face back lit with blue LEDS; these slits are arranged in three concentric rings displaying hours, minutes and seconds. John Taylor is a famous inventor who created the cordless kettle.

The timepiece will go on show to the world on Midsummer Day at Masterpiece London, described as “a unique showcase for the most covetable objects in the world”. It is likely the clock will then be shown at other locations before being offered for private sale. No price tag has yet been disclosed – but I bet he won’t be short of offers. I would love to own a mini version, but suspect that would be out of my price range too.

Meanwhile, back in King’s Parade, I couldn’t resist recording a video of the Chronophage to show its amazing workmanship, ducking and diving between the motorists and cyclists.  I hope you enjoy it.