THE SAGA of the Dymock Church clock continues, because it has broken down for the fourth time in a little over two years.

The recent break-down was completely unexpected by the parish council, which is responsible for the clock, because a troublesome winding mechanism had only been replaced last summer.

Following an inspection on Tuesday, (February 14) the unit has now been taken away for testing and repairs, and Cllr Terry Ball, chairman of the parish council, is hopeful that this time the parish council will not be charged.

He said: “We are keeping our fingers crossed on that one. The breakdown, about a week ago, should not have happened.

“So at the moment, once again, there is no church clock for Dymock. I’m obviously disappointed. We’re used to having a clock and this is getting a little frustrating. However, there’s nothing we can really do about it.”

Cllr Ball could not say when the clock would return.

Previously, the clock has famously ceased time-keeping for Christmas 2014, the New Year of 2015 and last summer, during Euro 2016, securing its own remarkable hat trick, which it has now exceeded.

The village, however, is hardly in the mood to celebrate, because precious repairs have cost the parish council as much as £700 a time.

The church and its clock would have been a familiar sign to the Dymock Poets, a group of writers who gathered in the Dymock area just prior to the First World War.

One of them included Robert Brooke, who famously asked in his poem, Grantchester, “Stands the church clock at ten to three?”

It Dymock, it seems, his question might have met with a silence or a shrug.