'Robin Of Rothbury'....almost the same ring as 'Robin Of Locksley'....but not quite!!

Hi,

I hope this small site will allow locals and visitors an avenue to get their views heard,  publicise local events and generally offer a guide to Rothbury and the surrounding area.

I have lived in Rothbury all my life. I have not been an adventurer. I have never roamed the seven seas or travelled the world, I don't even have a passport. I have instead found all the beauties of the countryside in Northumberland (and Scotland), all I ever needed, though a trip on the Canadian Pacific railroad would be quite something!

The family were blacksmiths and originally came from Scotland. My Uncle Albert went back through the ages and found (among other things), that we came south with Bonnie Prince Charlie's army when they invaded England, but in the retreat we got as far as Longtown and said enough was enough, before  sending off various members to Edinburgh, to learn the noble art of clock making.
Many of my forebears learned their trade well and spread themselves about the local countryside. Parts of our family were well known for clocks, the 'Apostle Clock' (now in America) was one, though one of the most interesting was the 'Invisible Clock'.
Now most of you think clocks are what you look at, but that is wrong, at least as far as clock makers are concerned. The 'CLOCK' is the mechanism, not the face or the body.
The 'Invisible Clock' is reputed to have come about due to a local Rothbury drunkard falling against the 'old shop' window on High Street and breaking it. Now this is where you may say our Scottish ancestry kicks in.
Waste not want not..... well that's just what an auld Murray stalwart thought. He used the broken glass to make up a unique clock.
As I've said, the clock is the mechanism and to all intents and purpose all you could see was the glass face with two hands. The trick was that the 'CLOCK' was actually in the bulbous ends of the hands and the clever little fellow had weights revolving inside these bulbous ends, resulting in an added clever little touch. You could spin the hands and they would always come back to the correct time
My cousin had the clock until he died and all effects had to be sold at auction. I know not its whereabouts, but it is a TRUE story.
ps. It's nae gud contactin me fae clock repairs, clock technicalities missed a generation and thus I divint na oot aboot thum.