Still standing proud after all these years, this embattled London monument is gearing up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of three landmarks in its history. On May 31 1859 the hands of Big Ben's grand clock first began ticking, July 11 of that same year marked the first tolling of the Great Bell and September saw the first full sounding of the chimes.
Mike McCann, manager of Parliament maintenance and Keeper of the Great Clock, reflected, “I think we really do take it for granted sometimes. But the rest of the world becomes very interested when something happens to Big Ben. It is a unique symbol of Great Britain.”
Even someone so closely connected with the building can lose sight of its significance sometimes. “It's a funny job,” says McCann. “You go about your day to day responsibilities around the palace and then you get these special events and realize how much it means to people.”
Every week as part of his duties he ascends the tower's 292 steps—no sight of a lift as yet although rumours have been circulating for some time—“to make sure [the clock] is still there,” he jests.
The three clock engineers under his direction climb the steps up to the clock three times a week in order to wind it, and one New Year's Eve they had to resort to hairdryers as a means of thawing the bell hammers so that the clock would strike midnight. On another occasion, clock engineer Paul Robertson had to walk to Big Ben from his home in a snowstorm to keep the clock ticking. Leading up to the anniversary event, McCann and his team have been giving the bells an extra dose of TLC with a comprehensive cleaning and restoration.
Thirty steps up from the clock is the Great Bell, the original bearer of the nickname “Big Ben” now assigned to the clock tower, plus the four smaller bells that strike on the quarter hour. The clock's mechanism sets off the chiming of the bells, the smaller of which play the Westminster Chimes, a tune inspired by Handel's 'Messiah'. On the hour you'll hear the complete version of Westminster Chimes followed by the famed “Bongs”.
Big Ben was built as part of architect Charles Barry's reconstruction of the Palace of Westminster after it was burnt to the ground in 1834. Barry subcontracted the design of the 300-foot tower and clock to Augustus Pugin.
Big Ben has weathered abuse from the elements, suffered damage during the Blitz, and came out looking as magnificent as ever after the eighties' restoration. While renowned for its reliability, now and then the clock does come to a halt. Its hour hand was famously immobilised in 1944 when a flock of starlings chose it for a perch.
