Repair Shop gets school's Nightingale clock ticking

The clock gifted to the school by Florence Nightingale is ticking again in time for its 150th year

A clock donated to a school by Florence Nightingale has been restored by the team at the BBC TV programme The Repair Shop.

The clock, gifted by the nursing pioneer to Wellow Primary School in Romsey in 1877, has hung in the school ever since but has not worked for many years.

The school's executive headteacher, Mrs Beth Larcombe said: "It's our claim to fame here at Wellow".

With the school's 150th year looming, it applied to the programme to get the timepiece back up and ticking again.

Mrs Larcombe said it was "nerve-racking... and also so exciting" to hand the clock over to the team for its transformation.

"We're in a really special position in Wellow because we have all of the log books that go right back to when the school was first opened... they record daily life in the school," Mrs Larcombe said.

"In 1877 there is an entry that says that a clock, the gift of Miss F Nightingale, was hung," she added.

It has remained a cherished and admired feature on the wall of the school's library and their biggest claim to fame.

The school was built in 1875 after Florence Nightingale's father gifted a piece of the land.

The historical timepiece was brought back into working order by the programme's clock restorer Steve Fletcher and clock face painter Cindy Welland.

Its story and restoration was broadcast on the Repair Shop on Wednesday 22 January on BBC1.