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Just a few more bongs for Big Ben before London bell is silenced for four years
Source: Washington Post
Just a few more bongs for Big Ben before London bell is silenced for four years
By William Booth and Karla Adam August 14 at 12:36 PM
LONDON — So it has come to pass that the Keeper of the Great Clock announced Monday that London’s “Big Ben” hour bell will be silenced for four long years as desperately needed repairs are carried out on the 158-year-old timepiece, a masterwork of Victorian ingenuity and an enduring British icon.
Londoners were not happy to hear the news, and there was lament on Twitter, with many recalling how the hourly bongs of Big Ben serve as a kind of base note for their lives.
-snip-
The tower will soon be fully swaddled in metal scaffolding and three of the four clock dials covered. The last gongs of Big Ben, before its long rest, will ring out at noon Monday, Aug. 21. Large crowds are expected to witness the event. The repairs should be complete sometime in 2021, authorities promised.
“Big Ben has marked the hour with almost unbroken service for the past 157 years,” said Keeper of the Great Clock Steve Jaggs, noting that the complex renovation — budgeted at about $40 million — is designed to safeguard clock and tower for future generations.
-snip-
By William Booth and Karla Adam August 14 at 12:36 PM
LONDON — So it has come to pass that the Keeper of the Great Clock announced Monday that London’s “Big Ben” hour bell will be silenced for four long years as desperately needed repairs are carried out on the 158-year-old timepiece, a masterwork of Victorian ingenuity and an enduring British icon.
Londoners were not happy to hear the news, and there was lament on Twitter, with many recalling how the hourly bongs of Big Ben serve as a kind of base note for their lives.
-snip-
The tower will soon be fully swaddled in metal scaffolding and three of the four clock dials covered. The last gongs of Big Ben, before its long rest, will ring out at noon Monday, Aug. 21. Large crowds are expected to witness the event. The repairs should be complete sometime in 2021, authorities promised.
“Big Ben has marked the hour with almost unbroken service for the past 157 years,” said Keeper of the Great Clock Steve Jaggs, noting that the complex renovation — budgeted at about $40 million — is designed to safeguard clock and tower for future generations.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/just-a-few-more-bongs-for-big-ben-before-london-bell-is-silenced-for-four-years/2017/08/14/b61c59f2-80ef-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html
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Related: Big Ben to fall silent while essential conservation works take place (UK Parliament)
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