Venner Time's Right

Venner is synonymous with time switches: Robert Francis Sidebottom Venner was the electrical engineer who invented them. His business was founded in 1906. It was incorporated in 1911 as Venner Time Switches Ltd, a private company; went public in 1937; and was acquired in 1970 by AMF (American Machine and Foundry Co.) International. Venner's electromechanical time switches provided clockwork back-up to electrically-driven mechanisms, most typically in street lighting. The company was also responsible for the initial installation at pedestrian crossings of very many of the UK's Belisha beacons.

This Venner Type 99567 is from the 1930s, and is wholly clockwork. A knurled nut in the centre of the clock face can be loosened and the 'In' (on) and 'Out' (off) time settings adjusted. The clockwork rotates the mechanism and the pegs attached to the time markers throw a cam. A circuit is formed by the cam dropping copper prongs into Bakelite pots of conductive mercury. The work on this example has been limited to stripping and painting the case, and winding the clock.

Karan Anne Porter

Thursday 4 March 1965 to Wednesday 4 February 2009.
Photograph: Fulham, March 1991.