Venus Clock

Northern Goldsmiths was started in 1892 by Thomas Cooke from Northumberland, and has grown into one of the major jewellery groups in Britain. In 1932 the Company installed the golden clocks at the Blackett Street and Westgate Road shops, each of them finished in 24ct gold leaf. They are over fourteen and a half feet in height and weigh one and a half tons. Each clock is surmounted by a "life size" golden lady, based on the figure of Venus, whose outstretched arms symbolise progress. The clock outside the Blackett Street branch soon became a recognised meeting place in the city centre, in a tradition that dates back to World War II, when servicemen and their sweethearts met there. It still remains a landmark in Newcastle today.