- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Britain's famous Big Ben celebrates 150 years
- Date: 28th May 2009
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (RECENT) (REUTERS) BELL CALLED BIG BEN RINGING THE HOUR INTERIOR SHOT FROM BEHIND CLOCKFACE BIG BEN AND HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT BELL CALLED BIG BEN RINGING THE HOUR DETAIL OF CLOCKWORK
- Embargoed: 12th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: History,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA17MALSIHAVHSFFDKXDT1QXVHS
- Story Text: Big Ben, one of the world's most famous landmarks, is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2009. Much loved by Londoners, Britons and people from around the world, its distinctive chimes have been a symbol of stability, security and democracy throughout the last century and a half.
Big Ben owes its existence to the Great Fire of 1834 that destroyed most of the old Houses of Parliament. Charles Barry won the commission to design the new Palace of Westminster and it is his iconic design of Parliament's new buildings, complete with a clock tower and a large striking clock, which stands today. The construction of the clock tower was completed in 1859, and the clock first started on 31 May, 1859. This was closely followed by the first sound of Big Ben striking the hour on 11 July, 1859.
Big Ben is commonly used to describe the Clock Tower, Great Bell and Great Clock combined. But officially the name refers only to the Great Bell. 2009 is the landmark's 150th Anniversary year: The Clock Tower was completed in 1859 , the Great Clock started keeping time on 31 May 1859 and the Great Bell first chimed a little later, on 11 July.
31 May and 11 July therefore mark the two key anniversary dates this year.
Clock maker Paul Roberson has been looking after the great clock of Westminster for three years. Three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he walks up 334 steps to wind up the clock and ensure that its time keeping is accurate :
"The clock is 150 years old and still weight-driven so it's weights that are driving the clock and those weights slowly work their way down to the ground so after three days they're on the ground so we have to come up her three times a week, (on Mondays, Wednesdays , and Fridays) and wind them back up again exactly like 150 years ago when the clock was first installed" he explained.
"While we're up here we check the time-keeping of the clock as well. It's always within a second a day so we're monitoring that all the time and we're monitoring that all the time and we can make small adjustments if necessary ...By adding a penny we can speed the clock up two fifths of a second a day , take the penny off and it slows it down ...that's how we keep the clock spot on," he added.
A popular London character since 1859, Big Ben really became an international celebrity with the coming of radio. On New Year's Eve 1923, the great bell was heard for the first time on the BBC, welcoming in the new year. A microphone placed inside a football bladder was installed in the belfry, providing direct transmission to the BBC control room at Savoy Hill. Soon after, it became a regular feature on the airwaves. In 1932 Big Ben went global when the BBC started their Empire Broadcasting short-wave service, which reached millions of people throughout the British Commonwealth. The arrival of television only added to its fame - the clock face made its first television appearance on a New Year's eve programme in 1949 and Big Ben has continued its starring role ever since.
The clock does stop from time to time - twice a year, for example, it is stopped with the start and end of British Summer Time - but it is the accidental stoppage which hits the headlines. Usually these have been caused by workmen leaving maintenance tools inside the clock, but some have been more dramatic; the hands have been brought to a halt by frozen snow, and on another occasion by a flock of starlings.
Genuine mechanical defects are extremely rare: in 1944 the pendulum suspension spring broke, and more recently, in August 1976, metal fatigue in the mechanism produced a fault which caused devastating damage in the clock room; bits of the mechanism were embedded in the walls and ceiling and the main frame was fractured. Happily it was only a matter of hours before the clock was repaired and within three weeks Big Ben was once more striking the hours.
Said Roberson: "It's had odd hiccups, we've had painters up here which have leaned their ladder up against that shaft thinking that's quite convenient, not realizing that that's the shaft that goes out and drives the hands so leaning the ladder on it is not a good idea so it stopped. We also had a lighting attendant who came up to change a light-bulb for us and he fell into the movement and managed to stop the movement. It had its odd minor hiccups but nothing major."
How Big Ben got its name is not fully known, however nearly all large bells are given human names - for example, the bell of St Paul's Cathedral was christened "Great Tom". So the bell of Westminster had to have a name. At first it was going to be called "Victoria", in honour of the Queen, but it wasn't long before the name "Big Ben" was on everyone's lips.
At the time, there were two very well known men called Ben. The first was a champion boxer - Benjamin Caunt - who weighed 110 kg (17 stone) and was very popular with the people. The other Ben was Sir Benjamin Hall, an MP who, as Commissioner of Works, had a great deal to do with the clock and bells. He was a very big man and his name was on the side of the first bell that cracked. Either of these may have inspired the nickname "Big Ben", but no one is really sure which it was. Today, of course, the bell is much more famous than both of them.
The sound of Big Ben which is so well-known is based on the Westminster Chimes. The Belfry houses the the hour bell, known as "Big Ben" and the four quarter bells. Together the quarter bells ring out a tune called the Westminster Chimes which was taken from a piece of music by Handel, then the large hammer lifts back and drops with a crash, and Big Ben strikes the hour.
1ST QUARTER 2ND QUARTER 3RD QUARTER HOUR Altogether the chimes ring out: All through this hour Lord, be my guide And by Thy power No foot shall slide It always was and still is the landmark for tourists visiting the UK.
"It brings a lot of affection to a lot of people, when we get people come up. Especially during the war they introduced the silent minute at 9 o'clock when the clock struck nine everyone would be silent for a minute and remember people during the war and even today we bring people up here and they get very emotional about it even today, it's an icon of London isn't it it's marvellous I love it," said Roberson.
More Big ben facts: · The height of the clock tower is 96 metres · There are 4 clock faces on the tower · The clock face diameter is 7 metres · There are 312 separate pieces of glass in each clock face · The minute hands are 4.2m long, made of copper and travel a distance equal to 190 km a year · The hour hands are 2.74 m long and made of gun metal · The bell weighs 13.7 tonnes · It was first cast in 1856, and cracked in 1857 · The second bell was cast and installed in 1858, and first rang in 1859 - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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