Time Flies 

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

BBC Radio 4 LW

Documentaries

Factual: Life Stories

BBC Radio 4 - Time Flies

Time flies inside the world's largest collection of antique cuckoo clocks.

Over 700 cuckoo clocks may adorn the walls of their Cheshire home, but as Roman and Maz Piekarski contemplate their futures, neither can understand where the time has gone.

Over 700 clocks may adorn the walls of their Cheshire home, but as Roman and Maz Piekarski contemplate their futures, neither can understand where all the time has gone.

For more than 30 years, the brothers have dedicated their every waking minute to building and sustaining Cuckooland - the world’s largest collection of antique cuckoo clocks. With neither having married, nor had children, tracking down, restoring and preserving their treasured timepieces has been a never-ending labour of love - a lifetime’s work. 

Once a busy tourist destination, changing tastes had already seen footfall declining. And since the onset of the pandemic, the gates to their museum and home - a 19th century schoolhouse perched by the side of the A556 - have been shut. Covid has only compounded the brothers’ ever-present predicament - with nobody poised to take stewardship over their prized possessions, what happens when they no longer have the capacity to continue as the custodians of Cuckooland? They may be slowing down, but time isn’t. And as their clocks’ constant ticking reminds them, it’s running out. 

In Time Flies, the Piekarskis once again open up the doors to Cuckooland, but this visit takes a different direction to the usual tour. Steeped in nostalgia, the clocks connect them to people and places now long in the past. And with real concerns for the future, their mantra of making the most of every moment is coming under strain. 

Because for its curators, Cuckooland is more than a celebration of craftsmanship and a shrine to a slice of European history. It’s a living, cacophonous collection that - without a caretaker - might slowly fade away. 

Original music composed by Jeremy Warmsley 
Produced by Eleanor McDowall and Michael Segalov
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Time Flies

Genres

Formats

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4