London's Big Ben silenced
2007-08-11 19:43
London - The "bongs" of London's Big Ben
stopped on Saturday for up to six weeks as the clock's chimes
were shut down for maintenance work.
At 08:00 the bells of the landmark Westminster
clock tower were silenced for the final phase of a programme of
work ahead of the clock's 150th anniversary in 2009.
An hour later, Londoners and tourists saw the unusual
spectacle of workers abseiling down the south clock face to
clean and repair it. Both hands of the clock were turned to 12.
An electric system will keep the clock moving while work
takes place on the mechanism.
The stoppage will be the longest suspension of Big Ben since
1990. There were previous stoppages of both the hour and quarter
bells in 1956 and 1934.
The 96m clock tower of Britain's parliament is
popularly known as Big Ben, although the name actually refers to
the 13.5 tonne Great Bell inside.
- Reuters