Walk foreman’s pocket watch

Albert Kitto was walk foreman from 1889 to 1926. Every rope made at the works was laid by men walking backwards down the walk, twisting the strands as they went, and Kitto timed each length with this watch. A good crew laid 220 metres of well rope in 40 minutes.

Inside the back case someone scratched “A.K. 1889” and 212 small tally marks. His grandchildren gave us the watch in 1994 and had no idea what the marks were for. Neither do we. If you have a theory, the front desk keeps a notebook of them.