Yesterday I read a post by my fellow blogger TBM about his recent walk around downtown London, England, and it brought back many memories for me of my trip to London in 2010. Then last night I saw a report on the news about how Big Ben, the famous clock tower in London, is leaning and how Parliament wants to “put it right”. The day we saw Big Ben, it was raining, and we had to stand across the street under cover to get any photographs, but I was still quite happy with my results. I find that most people try to get the whole tower in the frame, and I certainly did that myself. However, I also experimented with my telephoto lens to try and capture some of the details in the clock face. This is one of my favourites.
When I returned from that trip, I had many of my photos printed (I took tons), and filled five photo albums. I tried to write a little bit beside photos of famous landmarks, and while looking up information about Big Ben, I found some interesting facts. Did you know that the clock tower is really called St. Stephen’s Tower and Big Ben is actually the massive bell inside the clock tower which weighs more than 13 tons. Another thing that I found really fascinating is that Big Ben’s time is strictly regulated by a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum and that Big Ben has rarely stopped. The clock faces have a diameter of almost 25 feet, and the minute hands are 14 feet long. Quite the architectural feat, don’t you think?
photos from the loonybin 
Good choice to snap the clock face – shows detail well. Didn’t know that about the coins – interesting
Thanks! There are many more interesting facts about Big Ben, but I couldn’t include them all. It has a very fascinating history.
Great shot! And thanks for all the info about it. I had no idea. I had heard on the news that it is leaning…I hope they can correct it so it keeps on ticking.
Thank you very much! Yes, they say that the lean is actually visible to the naked eye now, so there’s your next job TBM, our London correspondent. We need you to tell us if it’s true!! LOL 🙂
Next time I’m down there I’ll check it out…and I’ll try to do my homework before hitting up the pubs but I can’t promise that 🙂
Come on TBM – if you hit the pubs first, it’s really gonna be leaning!!! LOL
Great information… the things you learn from blogs 🙂
I totally agree. That’s why my email has at least tripled since starting this blog because I am following so many others and learning such amazing things!
Oh no, I hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate as the London Bridge! : )
You have a great blog, love the pictures and stories.
Thank you for giving me my first laugh of the day. I was so very tired when I woke up this morning that I was kind of out of it. I was reading your message, and I didn’t get the London Bridge reference at first. Then my husband started singing the song at the top of his lungs, and I finally got it!! Duh me! Thanks for the compliments – I’m glad you are enjoying the loonybin!!
Wow Cindy!!!! Great shot!!!! & I have always loved Big Ben (…. or rather St. Stephen Tower!!!) 😉 Thanks for the info Cindy…. love to learn random trivia!!! Will definitely ping back to you when I do my Big Ben post for my travel lane memory in the future!!! Such information can’t go silently!!! 🙂 **
Thanks so much Xandre! Glad you liked it, and a ping back would be great! And yes, the standard history of a place is great, but sometimes the random trivia is even more fascinating I think!!
Pingback: London, UK – Big Ben | Xandré Verkes