Big Ben

This week we had the opportunity to climb Elizabeth Tower, better known by the nickname of its largest, most famous bell: Big Ben.

Elizabeth Tower, which is part of the Palace of Westminster (home to the British Parliament), is a clock tower completed in 1859 and named in 2012 after Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee. It is perhaps one of the most iconic landmarks in London. We were lucky to nab tickets for a tour – which are very limited and I tried several months before succeeding.

A dozen of us, led by a tour guide, climbed 334 steps up the internal spiral staircase to reach the belfry, where we donned ear protection and waited for the bell to chime 2 p.m. Four small bells (each weighing 1-4 tons!) rang out the famous tune of Westminster, now familiar in bell towers everywhere, before the bell known as Big Ben, weighing in at nearly 14 tons, bonged twice. Even with earmuffs, the sound and reverberations were palpable – this video will give you a sense of the experience. And the view was absolutely breathtaking, overlooking Parliament Square, the River Thames, the London Eye, and the Shard, among other things.  The sky was blue with puffy clouds and light breeze. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed – indeed, our phones were confiscated before the tour – so I can’t share these scenes!

Here’s a view from inside the gates of Parliament.

On the way up we stopped into the Mechanism room to examine the massive, mechanical mechanism that drives the clock hands and the triggers the bells, with remarkable accuracy. (Among other fun facts, they adjust the pace of the clock by adding or removing pennies to the top of the pendulum.) On the way down we stopped at the clock-face level to walk around inside the four clock faces, where we could see the Roman numerals and massive clock hands through the translucent glass panels.

It was a delightful visit, with a tour guide who explained the history, mechanics, and legends of the tower and its most famous bell. Visit if you can!

Extra fun facts for my Dartmouth friends:

• the tower includes a beacon, the Ayrton light, that shines whenever Parliament is in session… Sound familiar? Think of the “green light” on Baker Tower shines when the Trustees are in session (among other occasions).
• the Baker Bells play a tune similar to the Westminster chimes… but few know that the Westminster clock’s tune was borrowed by its designer from St Mary’s Church in Cambridge, which in turn extracted them from Handel’s Messiah.

n.b. Some of the photos above, and in the gallery, are from a bus tour a few weeks earlier. The gallery includes a neat video of horse-mounted police who patrol the area. The Wikipedia page has many other neat facts about the clock, the tower, and its history.