There’s a Westminster wall clock ticking and chiming in our TV room as if it’s been in our home for generations.
It hasn’t.
Not only has it only just arrived from South Africa, by the sheer determination and efforts of my sister and her army of kind friends, Westville horologist, Rudi Berkhout, cleaned it up, repaired it, and it’s working for the first time in decades.
I could go into detail about the shipping process, or the packing complexities, or of having to have it fumigated before it could travel or about how it was lost on arrival in the USA – but I won’t.
I’d rather you know about the love and the care my grandparents’ clock received at the expert hands of Durban’s own Rudi Berkhout.
From the minute Rudi received the clock from its years of storage, Rudi kept me informed of every detail as he brought it back to life. His amusing narrative, his obvious love of perfection and detail, were all documented and photographed daily as the clock was painstakingly and lovingly resurrected.
Thank you, Rudi.
The chimes of my childhood now reverberate through our home and, believe me, there’s something very beautiful about that when you are this far from your homeland and this far from childhood.
Rudi can be contacted at Rudi@berkhout.co.za
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