Added: May 15, 2008
From: TravelScooter
Duration: 0:50
Big Ben can be heard chiming in the seventh hour in the background of this vt. . SW1 Big Ben, which is actually the nickname of the main bell housed within the tower (formally known as the Great Bell. The Clock Tower has also been referred to as The Tower of Big Ben and, incorrectly, St Stephen's Tower, which is actually the spired tower towards the middle of the Palace and is also the main point of entry for attendees of debates and committees. On 29 October 2005, the mechanism was stopped for approximately 33 hours so that the clock and its chimes could be worked on. It was the lengthiest maintenance shutdown in 22 years. The clock tower's "Quarter Bells" were taken out of commission for four weeks starting at 7:00 am local time on 5 June 2006, as a bearing holding one of the quarter bells was damaged from years of wear and needed to be removed for repairs. During this period, BBC Radio 4 broadcast recordings of British bird song followed by the pips in place of the usual chimes. The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben, which is often mistakenly applied to the Clock Tower. The original bell was a 14.5-tonne (16 ton) hour bell, cast on 6 April 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by Warner's of Cripplegate. The bell was never officially named, but the legend on it records that the commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall, was responsible for the order. Another theory for the origin of the name is that the bell may have been named after a contemporary heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt. It is thought that the bell was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, but that an MP suggested the nickname during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard. The bell cracked under the striking hammer, and its metal was recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as the 13.76-tonne (13.54 ton (long), 15.17 ton (short)) bell, which stands at a height of 2.2 metres with a diameter of 2.9 metres, and it is still in use today. The new bell chimes the A, and was cast on 10 April 1858 and mounted in the tower alongside four quarter-hour bells, the ring of bells that ring the familiar changes. The bell was first heard across London on 31 May 1859. This bell also cracked, just two months after coming into use. Along with the main bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells are G sharp, F sharp, E, and B (see Note). They play a 20-chime sequence, 1--4 at quarter past, 5--12 at half past, 13--20 and 1--4 at quarter to, and 5--20 on the hour. Because the low bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Great St Mary's church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, on a phrase from Handel's Messiah. The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary's and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37, are: "All through this hour/Lord be my guide/And by Thy power/No foot shall slide". They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room. o A six-metre (20 ft) metal replica of the Clock Tower, known as Little Ben and complete with a working clock, stands on a traffic island close to Victoria Station. Meet me there! o0o
Channel: Travel
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