Summer time

[DamnSaxon]

Although I hail from the unfashionable side of Hadrian's Wall, I find the faffing about with clocks twice yearly a complete pain, with no obvious benefit. My own clocks remain on GMT all the year round, on the grounds that the time in Britain is GMT, whatever the government say.

 

Strangely, I find that I experience precisely the same amount of daylight as those who do go through this idiot dance. The only practical effect is that I have to remind myself when I go out the door that they're all mad, and are pretending it's an hour later than it is.

 

We're always told how summer time is "unpopular" north of the border. Shetland is about as far north of the border as you can get and still be in the UK ... is this right? Do Shetlanders regard BST with the same sort of irritation as me? (Other Scottish opinions also welcome, of course)

[MuckleJoannie]

Older readers may remember the permanent BST that applied from the winter of 1968 to October 1972. I found it a pain as here in Shetland the sun didn't rise until 10am in winter so you went to school in the black dark. I don't recall any advantage in having lighter afternoons.

 

FAQ about BST

 

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/info/bst2.htm

[Sudden Stop]

I found it a pain as here in Shetland the sun didn't rise until 10am in winter so you went to school in the black dark.

 

And as kids were going to school in the dark, the experiment was blamed when a few of them got run over.

 

Not nearly as many injuries in the morning as there are in the evening when people are on the roads in the dark on the way home after work and are a little tired from working. Not changing the clocks actually reduced the castuality rate by hundreds but since people were used to crashes at night, the 'new' injuries in the morning were blamed on the darkness.

 

Some people just can't see the light...

[BigMouth]

It's all a complete waste of time. I was told that it was the farming community that requested it, but I don't believe that for a minute.

 

Dawn is still dawn whatever hour the clock is pointing at.

[DamnSaxon]

Dawn is still dawn whatever hour the clock is pointing at.

Exactly. And in the British Isles, taking an average figure, it varies smoothly between about 8am in winter and 4am in summer, sunset varying between about 4pm (winter) and 8pm (summer).

 

Not nearly as many injuries in the morning as there are in the evening when people are on the roads in the dark on the way home after work and are a little tired from working. Not changing the clocks actually reduced the castuality rate by hundreds ...

Exactly. Not changing the clocks reduced the casualty rate. Not setting them wrong during summer (or winter) but not changing them. The increase in road deaths in autumn arises because a population which has been driving home at, say, 4:30pm during the summer (and pretending it's 5:30) suddenly starts driving home at 5:30, when it's noticeably darker.

 

If people just worked 8am til 4pm all year round - as they do during summer, pretending it's "9am til 5pm", ALL the alleged benefits of "year round BST" would accrue - plus, the country's clocks would be reading the right time for these islands.

 

Perhaps one of the minority who voted in favour of BST would care to tell us why they prefer their clocks reading Italian time?

[Marooned in Maywick]

I'm not the BST voter - I think it's a load of manufactured tosh.

If anyone wants their extra hour of daylight....get up earlier.

It's not rocket science.

[Ghostrider]

Older readers may remember the permanent BST that applied from the winter of 1968 to October 1972. I found it a pain as here in Shetland the sun didn't rise until 10am in winter so you went to school in the black dark. I don't recall any advantage in having lighter afternoons.

 

Yup...GRREAT FUN!! and I don't think! when you're 5 and 6 had to platch 1/4+ mile trow a guttery park carrying a flashlight, often with it blowing half a gale and pouring rain, to meet the school bus.

 

Yet one more crackpot scheme dreamed up by politicians and civil serpents, who never leave their offices and limos long enough to know what night and day really is.