Skip to main content

Big Ben renovations





Big Ben – the clock at Westminster Palace in London – is about to undergo emergency renovations to restore it to its original colour scheme. However, it is more than a face lift – the repairs are needed for maintenance.

Big Ben was built in 1856 and completed in 1858. The Great Clock (or The Great Bell) – or commonly just The Clock Tower – is nicknamed Big Ben. It was officially renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

The clock face is the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world (second to the Minneapolis City Hall clock in America).

Part of the renovations are to change the current black and gold paintwork of the clock face to its original colour scheme of green and gold. This is to reflect Pugin’s original design. Augustus Pugin (1812-1852) designed the 96 metre-high (315 feet) clock tower in Gothic Revival style in 1852 to complement the Neo-Gothic style of the Houses of Parliament. Charles Barry won the architectural competition in 1846 to design Westminister Palace, but he relied on Pugin to create its Gothic interiors and the clock tower, particularly the bell tower.

The renovations are expected to start in January 2017 and take up to three years. During this time the clock bells will be silenced for up to several months.



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/big-ben-could-silenced-30million-7824749


MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

  1. lcrenovationMarch 19, 2020 at 12:50 AM

    It is amazing and wonderful to visit your Blog. Thanks for sharing this information, this is useful to me.
    Renovations in Balham

    ReplyDelete
  2. KaKaApril 1, 2022 at 11:50 PM

    This article helped me understand it all.
    rickshaw

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chomko LAApril 4, 2023 at 2:36 PM

    Thanks for Sharing this Kind piece of Information. I found your blog on Google When i am searching about large clock towers your blog is very informative and I bookmark your Future Content.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...
Post a Comment
Read more