TIME is ticking down until the 40th anniversary of one of Basildon’s most iconic landmarks.

The ornate Cats Cradle Pussiewillow III clock, at the Eastgate Centre, not only tells the time, it is a work of art – an invention that has delighted young and old for decades.

The clock, which tells the story of the ‘Owl and the Pussycat’, was commissioned by the Basildon Development Corporation and was officially opened on August 7, 1981 by ‘Goon’ comedian and TV star Michael Bentine as well as the clock-maker himself, Frederick Emett, famously known for designing the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car.

The opening ceremony attracted crowds of hundreds as well as TV crews from across the nation.

It was originally situated on the ground floor of the shopping centre, just outside the entrance to the now long gone SavaCentre, but it has since been relocated to the second-floor upon major alterations to the Eastgate Shopping Centre’s internal layout.

The 20ft high clock stands on a circular plinth and chimes every 15 minutes, followed by a moving performance each hour where cats and butterflies are seen to spin and rotate to the accompaniment of music.

Its ornate blue circular water fountain feature, divided into eight equal segments, proved to be tremendously popular with the public who deposited coins into it – which when collected were donated to various charities.

In around 2007 the clock stopped working and needed major repairs. Many believed the damage had been done due to people throwing in their coins over-zealously.

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The repairs were paid for by the then owners of the shopping centre, British Land, and the clock has continued to be a great centre of interest and inspiration to shoppers ever since.

Frederick Emett was born in London in 1906, the son of a businessman and amateur inventor- and the grandson of Queen Victoria’s engraver.

Basildon arts leader and fan of Emett’s work, Vin Harrop, has researched the artist’s life. Vin was pivotal in persuading the Eastgate to fund the repairs to the clock.

Vin said: “The word ‘whimsical’ is frequently used to describe Emett’s work. His most recognisable pieces are the crazy inventions of Caractacus Potts, played by Dick Van Dyke in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

“It’s important that we mark the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of the clock in Basildon.

“Emett started out in the industry after seeing a friend paid handsomely by Punch magazine for what he thought was a poorly drawn cartoon. So he submitted his own and quickly became one of the most popular cartoonists at Punch, and eventually becoming Cartoon Editor.

“Many of Emett’s cartoons featured outlandish trains, and in 1950 one of the organisers of the 1951 Festival of Britain, architect Sir Basil Spence, asked if he might create a real-life version of his cartoon ‘Far Tottering & Oyster Creek Railway’.

“It became one of the main attractions at the festival, carrying over two million people around the festival park and made Emett’s reputation as a maker of mechanical ‘things’.

In 1978 Emett was given an OBE. He died on November 13, 1990 in a Sussex nursing home.

When asked how he came up with his strange designs, Emett once remarked, “It is a well known fact that all inventors get their first ideas on the back of an envelope. I take slight exception to this, I use the front so that I can incorporate the stamp and then the design is already half done.”