Big Ben

According to a recent survey, the most popular landmark in the UK struck the hour for the first time on the 7th of September of 1859. The world's largest four-faced chiming clock forms part of the House of Parliament and takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who first commissioned its building. The hour hand is 2,7 meters long and the minutes hand is 4,3 meters long; and with its 13,5 tons the bell is minutely regulated by small stack of old penny coins attached to the pendulum. The name "Big Ben" does not refer to the clock-tower itself, but just to the bell, which originally was placed into the old Palace of Westminster but before being put in its present location, was refashioned in Whitechapel in 1858. At the base of each of the clock faces there is a Latin inscription reading: "Domine Salvam Fac Reginam Nostram Victoriam Primam" or "Lord save our Queen Victoria I". During the Second World War the clock tower luckily remained intact notwithstanding heavy bombings and its sound brought hope and reassurance to all those who heard it. A curiosity: in the clock tower there are a few cells where the Members of Parliament can be imprisoned in case of breach of parliamentary privilege, the last recorded case goes back to 1880. Although the tower is not open to public, visits can be arranged in particular cases.

Red Bus
by Gibrail

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