"I loved that clock - it was my friend and companion, I was never lonely or afraid as long as my clock went on tick, tock, tock, tocking..." Millicent Howe was born in 1923 and has lived in the area all her life. She now lives in Shelton and is a devoted member of the King George VI Memorial Club in Hanley. Her story is about a grandfather clock, but it was more than a mere timepiece - it is an integral part of her family and shared memories. One night, many years ago, Millicent had an eerie experience with the clock that she will never forget.
In pride of place in our living room stood the most regal looking grandfather clock. My mother would polish it and on occasion would gently wash it's face, each night before bedtime my father would open its door and take the two weights which were on a chain and pull them down in turn, then the pendulum would swing merrily away again and all would be well until morning.
I loved that clock - it was my friend and companion, I was never lonely or afraid as long as my clock went on tick, tock, tock, tocking. If my mother went to the shops for half an hour or so, I knew that I was safe with my clock. Each winter it seemed to develop a cough and it would shudder. Oh Dear! My father would dip a goose feather in paraffin and tickle it's works, it did the trick. Oh, I forgot to tell you, my clock was nearly 200 years old. My father had bought it in a sale of some old hall. So the dear old thing was, in 1935, entitled to have a cough and a shudder - don't you think? One night I lay counting the strokes to midnight. The clock coughed and shuddered and I counted and waited 10... 11... 12... 13...! Mum! Dad! The clock struck 13! Don't be silly said dad - go back to sleep. But in the early hours of the morning my uncle knocked on the door - we didn't have a phone - to tell my dad that his mother had died. "Dad didn't I tell you - the clock did strike 13!" 15 years later, 1950 to be exact, on one of my frequent visits to my parents with my baby daughter, the clock coughed and shuddered. "tick, tock, mama" said my baby daughter - uttering her first three words together. We laughed. We were delighted, the clock coughed and shuddered. Still to me it's a magic thing in 2003. | 
