New Plainmoor clock

As a note on the clock on the original grandstand; as we know, it was presented by the mayor E.H. Sermon.

This would indeed be an appropriate item for this particular mayor to present as he was the well-known local jeweller, watch & clockmaker Edward Henry Sermon who lived in Upton but had a shop at 16 Victoria Parade in 1883 before moving to number 10 in 1889. He was certainly still there in 1911 when his son 'F.C' Sermon had joined him. At some point he was presented with the Freedom of the Borough of Torquay.
I have previously owned a rather good mahogany bracket clock, made in circa 1890, with Sermon, Torquay signed on the dial. That it was of London quality would suggest to me that Sermon 'bought-in' the clocks and, as was the practice of the day, had his name put on them for retail. This is more than likely what happened with the Plainmoor clock, quite probably purchased from Gillett & Johnson of Croydon who where the main suppliers of outdoor and public clocks.

That someone within the business presented the club with a new clock seems to have also been continued in more modern times as anyone seeing the name on the latest timepiece, presented in 2012 and positioned above the directors box, will know!