Westworth, a cheerful ex-Army man, has been a clock maker for the Palace of Westminster since 2004. You only restore Big Ben once in your career, hopefully,” says Ian Westworth, from one of his two workshops in the building’s basement. The process of its restoration began in 2017 with the removal of the hands and will end this year, when a renewed, repainted, scaffolding-free Big Ben, as the clock and the clock tower are known, will once again preside over London.
And the biggest beast of all, at 13.7 tonnes, 2.2m high and 2.7m in diameter, is the Great Bell itself, Big Ben. There are the four quarter bells, which chime at 15, 30, 45 minutes past and just before the hour, weighing in at between 1.1 and 4 tonnes. Each hour hand, made of gun metal, a type of bronze, comes in at 2.7m and including counterweights, weighs 300kg. The four-minute hands, on each of the clock’s four faces, are made of copper sheet, measure 4.2m in length and weigh 100kg, including counterweights. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday.In the bustling centre of London, in the midst of a busy working Parliament building, atop the 96m-high Elizabeth Tower, up 11 floors (and 334 steps), is the Great Clock. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week ”. Join 600,000+ Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Readers outside of the UK can see every BBC Britain story by heading to the Britain homepage you also can see our latest stories by following us on Facebook and Twitter. This story is a part of BBC Britain – a series focused on exploring this extraordinary island, one story at a time. Jon Excell is the editor of The Engineer. If all goes according to plan, it’s a sound that will continue to ring out over London for at least another 150 years. Caused by an over-powerful striking hammer, this unexpected imperfection subtly altered the properties of the bell – and is thought to be a key element in its distinctive bong. The team will also examine and repair the Ayrton light – a huge lantern at the top of the tower, installed at the request of Queen Victoria, that is illuminated whenever Parliament is sitting.įor the first time, advanced non-destructive testing techniques also will be used to probe the clock, bells, and supporting structures and identify cracks or stress fractures that could need repairing.īut one aspect won’t be repaired: a crack that has been in Big Ben since shortly after the bell began ringing in 1859.
0 kommentar(er)
