It's 5 o' clock somewhere: from Darlington time to GMT

These days, from phones to laptops to car radios to microwaves, we have digital clocks on every device, which all tell the same time, right down to the second, and even change of their own accord when the clocks go forward or back.

But until the 19th century, time wasn't standardised in Britain, with every town keeping its own time. Darlington, for example, used to be four minutes behind London. Standardisation of time is all down to the expansion of the railways. If you were four minutes late, you'd miss your train! Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was adopted as the standard time across most, and eventually all, railway networks. In December 1847, GMT officially became 'Railway Time'.

If you prefer G&T to GMT then treat yourself to some Hopetown gin (specially created for us by Durham Distillery) from the Clocktower Café or Hopetown Goods and Gifts. After all, it's five o' clock somewhere!