How long is a moment? Perhaps as long as the BBC time pips which are celebrating their centenary this very day.
‘The pips have been broadcast daily since 5 February 1924 and were the idea of the Astronomer Royal and the head of the BBC.
Originally they would have helped people set their watches and clocks to the exact time, now our phones, radios and many of our clocks are connected by magic to the beating heart of the universe. Though some say the National Physical Laboratory is responsible.
The pips for national radio stations are timed from an atomic clock in the basement of BBC Broadcasting House synchronised with the National Physical Laboratory.
There are six pips which occur on each of the 5 seconds leading up to the hour and on the hour itself. The first five last a tenth of a second each, while the final pip lasts half a second. The actual moment when the hour changes is at the very beginning of the last pip. I checked the clock on my radio and sure enough the clock changed to the hour exactly on the last pip. Looking up more facts surrounding our precious pips and how the whole world keeps time can lead you down a rabbit hole, perhaps you will even meet Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit with his pocket watch. But do we still need the pips? Yes, they are a precious few moments when broadcasters actually stop talking, a moment of peace before we are weighed down by the latest round of news.
https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/february/the-pips
What time is it where you are? What do you rely on to check the time?
Times and Tides of a Beachwriter 
These pips certainly have a long, rich history, and are a fascinating aspect of time-setting and time-keeping alike. I rely on my phone to deliver my time. The watch was decommissioned long ago!⌚
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Hello Bruce, yes pips are certainly more interesting than you would think. I seem to be the only person still wearing an analogue watch.
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I found your information very interesting, Janet! The things we never think about, that are keeping the world functioning! I am in Massachusetts (US), so I believe I am 5 hours behind your time, and I almost always use my phone to check the time! I think in the old days, I used to use a watch! Ha! It’s pretty amazing that we can all be on the same planet, yet in different times, and sometimes, even in different days!
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Hello Anita, glad I made you think. Time is strange, nature gave us days and the year, but how did we construct hours?
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How long is a moment? Just a minute, I’ll check…
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I had to look up what “pips” are in the context of time (obviously not those hard things in oranges or the fellas belonging to Gladys Knight). These days, I check the time on whatever device is closest to my hand: phone, desktop, laptop, tablet. If I’m in the kitchen, I use the clock on the microwave. I stopped wearing a watch many years ago.
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Yes Liz, now you come to mention, it is a funny word! Apparently they were called the six dots to start with. I have clocks and digital numbers lurking everywhere at home, but still wear my analogue watch all the time when I’m out, so I can see the time without getting my phone out.
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“Dots” makes more sense to me than “pips” in this context!
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I LOVE information like this, which might not be important in the world today, but makes total sense. 😀
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Yes it is fun to delve into the abundance of interesting facts.
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Let me get back to you in a moment. 😊
We have a large wall clock that is an enormous pain in the butt to hang. Most of the time, we don’t bother to change it, even when the time changes. Hey, it’s right for six months out of the year. 🤣
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Sounds like the clock on my cooker which I daren’t change in case the oven won’t switch on!
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Canada’s public broadcaster, the CBC, used to have something called the National Research Council Official Time Signal that was the equivalent of the BBC pips. It happened once per day, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. in British Columbia where I live). Alas, it was discontinued last October, after 80 years, because now that broadcasts are available in different modes it was no longer relevant. Besides, almost everyone uses their phone to check the time.
I must admit I haven’t missed it, even though I expected to.
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Hello Audrey, yes I heard on the radio Canada had discontinued and also ABC Sydney. Of course life goes on and we forget how things used to be. Apparently BBC World Service plays the pips most often.
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Janet, a fascinating post and I too like those pips and laughed in agreement as often it is the only peace on the radio! What an institution of time-keeping and glad they still exist. As for watches, I have a selection of normal ones I like to wear, although on my last birthday did get a FitBit to measure my steps so slowly drifting away from them. 😞
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Hello Annika, yes the pips are soothing. I haven’t succumbed to a FitBit yet, my phone tells me my speed and mileage! Whichever device my friend has seems to constantly tell her how much sleep she has had, what sort of sleep, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels. and how much activity she should have each day!
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Oh, I’m not that keen! I was far too aware of it to wear in bed!
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Very wise.
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I remember the pips nothing like that here although bang on 8am and 6pm we get the National anthem instead of your pips 🙂
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Hello Carol, is it a rousing anthem?
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It is, Janet its played before films are shown in the cinema and everyone stands up…in schools, tv and radio regular as clockwork …Rousing indeed !
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I remember ringing TIM to get an accurate time before setting the hands on a watch, but now I mostly rely on the clock on my PC, the microwave clock in the kitchen, or the clock in my car when I am out. (It self-adjusts.) I still own three watches, so wear one if I am away from any ‘electronic source’. However, I am less reliant on knowing the time since I retired, unless it is for a medical appointment of course.
(I have never set the clock on my cooker, it requires a PHD in electronics to know how to do that, as well as complete manual dexterity using two hands to hold down one buttton as the other hand taps a counter faster than is humanly possible)
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hello Pete, you can still call the speaking clock. Cooker clocks are a nightmare. I managed to turn off a roast dinner on the new cooker when I decided to put another ten minutes on the timer. I prefer my wind up timer!
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Time, our ways of measuring it and our relationship to it are fascinating. I haven’t heard the pips for ages since I no longer have a radio. I listen to programmes as podcasts but the pips are excluded. I wonder how long they will be kept?
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I have lived my whole life without even knowing about pips. I love analogue clocks and try to keep them in every room. I used to inherit them but my wife smashes them every time the alarm accidentally goes off or they become too noisy to allow her to sleep. I have worn a Fitbit for almost six years because I can not be without a watch. I hate all the information they come with other than just counting steps,
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Hello Geoff, I’m glad to have introduced you at last to pips. Yes you can never have too many analogue clocks unless you’re married to Geoff!
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