Willows Clock 2000 Andy Hazell Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay The clock celebrates the life and achievements of Captain Ernest Willows, now largely forgotten, but once a prominent local aeronautical pioneer whose airship experiments in the skies over Cardiff Docks were a regular occurrence in the early 20th Century. Commenting on the installation of the clock, Mermaid Quay centre manager John Coll said :

“This is a fascinating (and useful) work of art which will undoubtedly intrigue and entertain visitors to Mermaid Quay. The new clock will add another dimension to a trip to the centre.” The clock consists of two faces – one for Cardiff and the other for London – representing Captain Willows’ historic flight between the two cities in August 1910 – when he became the first person to cross the Bristol Channel in a powered aircraft. The clock features a series of kinetic elements illustrating the Captain Willows’ story – including landmark buildings and aeronautical items - which move across the two steel faces. It will be lit at night by neon elements triggered by a sequence programmer to flash alternately in colours, shapes and lines to represent the water, the moon and the tides.