Hum Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 LONDON, England -- The chimes of London's famous Big Ben were silenced this weekend for 24 hours, the longest period in more than two decades. The reason was regular maintenance work and retuning on the famous clock, which coincided with a scheduled "long weekend" in Britain with clocks going back one hour for the end of British Summer Time. The clock, located in St. Stephen's Tower of Britain's parliament, the Palace of Westminster, became fully operational in 1859. It was stopped on Saturday after the 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) chimes and was not due to be back in action until 4 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Sunday. A spokesman for the clock's maintenance team said engineers would be testing for cracks or damage. "There is a lot of strain ... on that clock and obviously we're quite concerned that it's strong enough to maintain it," Mike McGann told BBC TV. "There is nothing actually wrong, it is a routine maintenance that happens every 15 or 20 years." Big Ben is the nickname for what is officially called The Great Clock. Strictly speaking Big Ben refers only to the 13-tonne bell that chimes the hours. It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was Commissioner of Works when the bell was installed in 1859. full story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.pingu Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 so clocks go back tonight? im so going to forget that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzeh Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 extra hour in bed;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intersect Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 they go back at 2am on sunday morning iirc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerm Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I know, im working tomorrow morning aswell. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Large Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I did not know that it was the bell that was named Big Ben and not the clock, interesting ! Well they do say, you learn something everyday ! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman2000 Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 here in Aus we have to go +1hr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Ah ... nice ... I'll go to be an hr later ... Then again, I'm goin' to a later service tomorrow (7pm *L*) so I don't have to worry really abt when I get up *snicker* All I have to say is this damn DST sucks ... I want to be at ONE TIME and stay there... not bouncing back and forth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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