Big Ben The Tour

Here I was standing at the foot of “The Clock Tour”, or if you prefer to go by its nickname of “Big Ben” and I do. Ready to embark upon one of London’s most exclusive tours, which was by the way free. It’s not often you get something this good for free in the Big Smoke.

I was gathered with 15 other intrepid souls ready to climb those 334 steps to the Belfry so that I could clap eyes on the legendary Great Bell. I thought I better ask if we were allowed to take some pictures and the answer was a firm no. Which was a bit of a surprise to me. I was however told there were plenty of pictures on the web site. Just wonderful.

We were each given our safety equipment before we began our accent of Big Ben, which came in the shape of ear plugs. If all went according to plan we would be watching the hammer strike “The Great Bell” 10 times and it was going to be fairly loud. The excitement was almost getting too much to bear.

A number of months ago, I climbed The Monument, which only had 311 steps to the top. And at the time, my legs felt some real pain. However I had been on my get fit campaign recently so I was hoping that it would be a piece of cake to get to the belfry, which is located just above the clock face. I must admit when I was standing at the bottom of Big Ben looking up that never ending spiralling stairway, my legs and knees were feeling tired just thinking about the climb.

On the way to the top of Big Ben we stopped at a room after a hundred or so stairs, where the tour guide told us a wee bit about the history of the world’s most famous clock. The tour guide gave us a brief and informative insight into the history of Big Ben. She sure knew her stuff and how to tell the story in an interesting manner.

I found one of the girls on the tour highly amusing. The tour guide would occasionally ask us questions and the girl was answering them like a she was ready for the next edition of fucking Mastermind. I thought give the kid a chance to show his stuff. She was probably the school swot and biggest bore on the planet back in her school days. Later on the tour guide would direct the questions directly towards the young boy. You could see the girl was desperate to put her hand up and answer the question.

The next stopping place on the Big Ben tour was The Clock Face, it was a bit of buzz to get to walk around this. I just wish they could have opened one of the hatches so we could have peered out of the most famous clock face in the world. That would have been truly amazing.

When I was standing inside the clock face, I wanted to open up the hatch and cling onto the clock face just like in that scene from the movie, “The Thirty Nine Steps”. But it was a wee bit too cold for that, maybe next time!

We finally made it to the belfry in plenty of time to watch Big Ben strike 10am. If you weren’t fully awake by this time you soon would be. The views from up here of London, were quite spectacular and 100 times more special than the nearby London Eye. It was maybe freezing cold, but the thrill of being at the top of Big Ben more than compensated for it.

The guide told us that last week she had a group of Canadians up there waiting for Big Ben to strike 12 times. However their luck was out and Big Ben froze and refused to chime. They waited up there in the freezing cold for another hour and thankfully they managed to see Big Ben strike once at 1pm. I suppose being from Canada the cold London weather would have been something they could handle no problem at all. I don’t know how they managed to get on the tour because on the web site it makes it clear it is only open to UK residents. I forget to ask and until somebody tells the me the answer it shall remain a mystery.

The girl asked why we weren’t allowed to climb to the very top of Big Ben, which is called “The Ayrton light”. Which was another 59 steps up. Yes why indeed? Well because of Health and Safety reasons and the fact that some woman come on the tour wearing high heels shoes. Leave them on the belfry and let those with sense up to the top.

The entire tour lasted around an hour and 15 minutes  and it was a real enjoyable time. It was truly an amazing experience to get the chance to visit what is quite probably the most famous and well known landmark in London. It sure was worth the wait to get on the Big Ben tour.

I was also hoping the tour guide would clear up when and how “The Clock Tower” got its nickname of “Big Ben”. There are of course two theory’s. That it is named after a Welsh MP at the time called Benjamin Hall, who’s name was inscribed on the original bell, which incidentally broke before it was installed. He was often referred to as big Ben in the house of commons.

The other theory is that “Big Ben” received its nickname from a former English bare knuckle heavyweight boxing champion of the time called Benjamin Caunt. He had came out of retirement at the time period to fight his brother in law whom he hated for a real grudge fight. He was very famous in London at the time and it seems quite plausible that as result of this fight and because his name was on everybody’s lips at the time,  that the public named The Clock Tower after him. The fight incidentally ended in a draw after a mere 60 rounds.

I personally feel that a nickname for something such as Big Ben would have come from the general public as opposed to a bunch of stuffy,  money grabbing leeches of MP’s. I think we can safely assume that “Big Ben” is nicknamed after Benjamin Caunt. Our tour guide on the day was also of this opinion. But another tour guide on a different day, might have other ideas.

Next stop for me is a free tour of the Houses of Parliament, which is again arranged through my local MP’s office. Who is Sarah Tether, Liberal Democrat MP and Shadow Minister for Housing. The Houses of Parliament tour you will all be glad to know is open to everyone, including foreign visitors during the summer months. You however have to pay for this privilege. I will stick with the free option.

 

 

Related posts:

1. The Big Ben Here I Come Ya Bas
2. Big Ben Isn’t A Clock You Imbeciles
3. The Big Ben Tour Here I Come