A grandfather who was offered a job as one of the Queen’s clock makers in Buckingham Palace is celebrating half a century at G.W Blower jewellers in Dunmow.

Saffron Walden Reporter: Peter Manning at work in G.W Blower. Picture: CONTRIBUTEDPeter Manning at work in G.W Blower. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

Peter Manning began working at the jewellers when he was 15 in October 1968 after leaving Helena Romanes School, earning six shillings a week to start.

Peter, who repairs customer’s watches and clocks and is also responsible for repairing the clocks on display at the Dunmow Museum, some which date back to the 18th century, said: “It’s the sort of job I can never imagine completely retiring from. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Peter, 65, who has always lived within walking distance of the business and regularly winds the clock in the Old Town Hall, Dunmow, explained: “I just enjoy it so much. It’s the feeling you get when you have a clock that doesn’t work at all and you make a couple of parts and you fit them in. It’s a very good feeling.”

In 1984, Peter, a fellow at the British Horological Institute, was offered the job as the Queen’s clockmaker at Buckingham Palace but turned it down.

Saffron Walden Reporter: A clock made by Peter, which took years to complete and now sits in his living room. Picture: CONTRIBUTEDA clock made by Peter, which took years to complete and now sits in his living room. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

He said: “People don’t understand it when I say I turned it down... it just didn’t appeal to me. I was tempted but I was talking to the Queen’s other clock maker and he explained that so much of it was clock winding. I preferred the variety of work here and you get to meet the customers.”

Peter’s father was a carpenter and Peter grew up watching him work.

“When I left school I wanted to work with my hands. I came here for a month’s trial and the rest is history,” he said.

About 25 years ago, a friend and clock winder at 10 Downing Street asked Peter to repair the oak RAF clock in the cabinet room, and the clock, Peter says, still sits there.

A grandfather to three girls and three boys, Peter has been married to his wife Anita for 43 years after they became pen pals.

Now working three days a week, Peter has more time to play with his grandchildren and watch Braintree Football Club.