Big Ben Enthusiasts Tour: 150th Anniversary of the Great Westminster Clock

11 Jul 2009

It’s quarter to seven in the morning on a Saturday and the fire alarm is going off in the Top Floor Flat. While normally this might be cause for alarm and a rude wakeup, today it’s just our temperamental toaster starting the day. Ann and I groggily wander around the flat, checking we have passports, collecting multiple forms of identification and forgetting the toast before making our way (quietly past our probably furious and equally groggy neighbours) to the London Houses of Parliament for the Big Ben Enthusiasts tour.

This weekend marks the 150th anniversary of the clock, clock tower and bell and Ann has secured a pair of tickets allowing us to take a tour up the tower to view the internal workings of the clock and the great bell itself in action as it tolls the (early) hour. Ourselves and 18 other enthusiasts are the very first group to celebrate Big Ben’s Birthday and as we stand under the famous buildings of Westminster alongside the Thames, I wonder how many Americans get to experience this bit of British history.

There’s a great deal of waffling, it seems, as to what each part of the famous structure actually named. The official word from our tour guides is that the tower is called the Clock Tower (not, as some people believe, St. Stephen’s Tower – there is no such tower on the premises), the clock is called the clock and the bell is called Big Ben. Our tour begins with a quick jaunt up the lower half of the 334-step tower before taking a breather in one of the many rooms that populate the 96m Clock Tower. Here we get a proper introduction to our tour guides, Ian and Paul, the official Palace of Westminster clockmakers who are responsible for not only the Great Clock in the tower but also the other 2000-odd clocks throughout the Houses of Parliament. These guys are seriously passionate about clocks, describing the intricacies of weighing the pendulum with copper pennies, difficulties of rewinding the clock three days each week and the cleaning and lighting of the clock faces.

The bell has had a rocky history. Although we’re celebrating its 150th birthday, it’s origins are from slightly earlier and in fact today’s bell is actually the second version after the first one was broken during test tolls and had to be remelted and cast. Then, shortly after moving into its tower home, misuse of the bell led to a crack in the side that has remained ever since. It’s slightly noteworthy that the company that built Big Ben also made the Liberty Bell so cracks seem to be a trend.

As we ascend the tower, we pass through increasingly exciting bits of the historic monument. From just behind the clock face, roman numerals longer than my arm appear backwards against translucent sheets of glass while above us the clock mechanism is keeping perfect time as dozens of gears wind slowly around. On the half and quarter hours the small quarter bells chime somewhere in the unexplored part of the tower, a hint of what’s to come. Finally, we climb into the cloudy sunlight and the belfry where nothing but a few planks of wood and wire netting separate us from a three-hundred foot tumble. There, in all its glory, is Big Ben itself.

With earplugs in and breath held, Paul and Ian count down the seconds to 10am and the quarter bells start to chime. Sixteen counts later, the hammer lifts against Big Ben and falls to strike the first toll of the ten o’clock hour. Half a minute after the final chime stops, the belfry is still vibrating around us as the resonance fades away.

After the main attraction, we head back down to the Westminster Palace halls but not before we’re presented with commemorative pins to mark the anniversary of Big Ben, a unique piece of memorabilia that only those who toured the tower can claim. As Ann and I leave the Houses of Parliament in search of brunch (the morning’s burnt toast seeming very far away indeed) we give a parting glance to Big Ben which will host another 500 visitors before the weekend is out. I’m happy to be the first to say it, Happy Birthday Ben, thanks for being such an iconic part of London skyline and history.

If you’d like to learn more about the Big Ben 150th anniversary celebrations or find out about public tours up the Clock Tower, visit http://www.bigben.parliament.uk/.

Wimbledon Revisited

7 Jul 2009

This weekend saw me glued to the television for the gripping final of the men’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. I may have missed the opportunity for a British spectator hat trick by not following the Royal Ascot horse race (I see some of the ridiculous hats in the gossip section of the papers, however!), almost hitting up all of the top three British sporting events after my glimpse of Henley last week but without question, the Wimbledon final stole the show.

As I mentioned, to say I’d followed the tournament closely would have been an understatement. Wimbledon radio was my permanent soundtrack during work and when I got home the television would be on before the door had shut behind me (although that could have more to do with the size of our flat than my enthusiasm for the game. It’s a tough call there). While I was relatively fickle in my loyalties during the preliminary matches – Hewitt, Roddick, Murray on occasion all receiving my support – there was no question in my mind that Federer would take the top spot, a richly deserved honour after last year’s painful defeat. Plus I didn’t really want to see him cry again.

So it wasn’t with much fear for Federer’s title that I followed the Twitter updates from Alex, who had scored seats to the historic final event, prepared my strawberries and Pimms and got comfortable on the couch for what I imagined would be a clean win for Roger.

It was with surprise but some excitement as well that I watch Roddick break first in the game, taking an early lead and the first set. No nerves yet, just the promise of a more evenly matched set than I had anticipated. The second set confirmed Federer’s strengths as he saved four set points in a tie break to come back and pull the set from the jaws of defeat.

Of course it was the fifth set, after a nail-bitting display bringing the men to two sets all, that brought every tennis fan across the world to the edge of their seat. Federer hadn’t yet broken Roddick’s serve, while Andy had broken Roger twice. The each seemed to be waiting for the other to break down, but they waited in vain as the set, which due to Wimbledon official rules can’t end in a tie break to decide the match, stretched on longer and longer. It was the thirtieth (that’s 30th) game of the set where suddenly the tide turned in Roger’s favour as Andy netted serves and lost points he had been winning earlier in the game.

With a final error from Roddick, the more than four hour game finally came to an end with Federer crowned the champion. The tennis greats were there to see him, the now world-record holder for most grand slams won, take that historic title.

I’m definitely sad Wimbledon has ended, it was a fantastic two weeks. Again I didn’t make it to the tennis grounds, and in fact have yet to visit the courts at all, but hope that some day I’ll be in the centre court crowd and when I am, I hope the match is just half as stunning as the final between Federer and Roddick on 5 July, 2009.

4th of July in London

6 Jul 2009

Independence Day in London has traditionally (well, the one previous time I’ve celebrated it here) been a strange combination of British and American elements coming together to create a unique multi-national celebration unlike anything I’ve ever known. Last year, I visited the British Museum for a tour of their British artist’s exhibition, to look at their stunning collection of British artifacts and to take part in their American independence day celebration which was marked with, of all things, Krispy Kreme donuts, quilt-making and American football demonstrations. To cap it off, I was spending the day with my British flatmate and a friend from high school in California.

This year seemed as if it would be a bit of a wash in the American department as I had already spent the day watching Wimbledon while eating strawberries. In an effort to regain some sense of the homeland I dressed myself up in red, white and blue, made southern-style chili and thought superior and revolutionary thoughts at all the British people I passed.

The evening of the fourth, however, another American friend here in London encouraged me to join the multi-national group that was celebrating our independence not too far from where I live. Without needing much more encouragement, I made my way to a New York style pizza joint decorated with red, white and blue balloons to spend the evening with my American friend, a El Salvadorian who had spend over a decade in the States, his Irish wife and our British friend. It’s unlikely there was a more mixed group anywhere celebrating independence day but of course, that’s what America is all about.

Happy 4th of July!

Wimbledon

5 Jul 2009

It’s been a fairly epic weekend and although I’ll probably spend most of this week trying to verbalise the last few days, in the meantime I’ll leave it to Alex Will to recap the incredible Wimbledon final on his blog:

Wimbledon: My Lifelong Dream

I may not have been there, but I felt like I was!

Sonnet Models’ Unofficial Launch Party in Henley-on-Thames

3 Jul 2009

On 1 July, the product launch day for my friends over at Sonnet Models, the team had a small unofficial launch party (a little celebration to preempt a bigger upcoming launch party) and I got invited along. The location was set for the banks of the Thames a ways outside London in a town called Henley-on-Thames, famously home of the Henley Regatta – one of the top three UK sporting events along with Wimbledon and the Royal Ascot horse race. To my great excitement, the evening’s launch party would coincide with the regatta itself so five o’clock saw me beating a hasty retreat from the Spoonfed offices, racing across town to change into my British summer best, and hopping a train from Paddington Station towards the previously unvisited town of Henley-on-Thames.

The evening hit an unfortunate bump early off as signal failures locally had delayed every train leaving the station. After an hour sitting on the unmoving train I had been worried I’d miss, I began to wonder if the 75 minute ride would be worth it. The train finally began moving but my misgivings increased when, at the junction where I needed to change trains, I saw hordes of well-dressed revelers leaving the regatta which had ended some hours before.

Given that my only other option was to turn around and find someone to shout at in the train station I had just left, I carried on towards Henley where I finally discovered the adorable little river-side town and the Sonnet Model’s celebratory group who welcomed me with a much needed glass of Pimms. The weather in Henley was stunning and we spent the evening wandering the banks of the river, indulging in ice creams and Pimms and taking in the post-regatta calm that was probably much preferable to the chaos of the day’s main event.

While I only had a few hours outside of London in Henley, the mini break reminded me how much I enjoy getting out of the city, especially with a friendly, fun and social group of people. While of course I’m looking forward to the Sonnet Models’ official launch party, I’m not sure much could be the great weather and relaxed evening on the banks of the Thames in Henley.