Christopher ‘Kit’ Williams, born in 1946, is a Stroud artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book Masquerade.

In 1985 Kit Williams designed the Wishing Fish Clock as the centrepiece for the brand-new Regent Arcade shopping centre in Cheltenham. At more than 45 feet tall it is believed to be the tallest mechanical clock in the world!

The clock features an illusion with a goose seemingly laying a never-ending stream of golden eggs and includes a family of mice that are continually trying to evade the snake sitting on top of the clock. Hanging from the base of the clock is a large wooden fish handmade by the artist that blows bubbles ever half-hour along to the tune of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.

The working and structural parts of the clock were built by Michael Harding, a world-famous clock maker, whose company Sinclair Harding used to be based in Montpellier. The clock was also the product of other local clock makers including Fred Sprigg and Ronald Morse and many more.

A tourist attraction in its own right, our clock and its beloved characters are now the subject of their very own children’s book, written by Miranda Walker and illustrated by Hannah Shaw and is available to purchase at selected independent stores in Regent Arcade.

Discover the characters of the clock!

• Geraldine the Goose
• Purdy the Cat
• Fishy McFishface
• Buttercup the Cow
• Simon the Snake
• Arkle the Horse
• The Mouseketeers
• Penelope the Pig
• Oscar the Dog
• Woolly the Sheep