LICEUL HOREA, CLOCA I CRIAN ABRUD LUCRARE DE ATESTARE A COMPETENTELOR LINGVISTICE

Big Ben Clock The Favourite British Monument

PROFESOR INDRUMTOR:

ELEV:

Anghel Ramona MIE

Popa Alexandra Clasa: A XII-A

-2013-

LICEUL HOREA, CLOCA I CRIAN ABRUD LUCRARE DE ATESTARE COMPETENTELOR LINGVISTICE

Big Ben Clock The Favourite Monument

British

PROFESOR INDRUMTOR:

ELEV:

Anghel Ramona

Popa Alexandra

Clasa: A XII-A MIE

-2013-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword............................................................................. ................ Chapter 1. London Tourism............................................................................. 1.1. The importance of tourism in Londons economy.. 1.2. Touristic places in London.. Chapter 2. Big

Ben.......................................................................................... 2.1. The Construction.... 2.2. The Movement 2.3 Great Bell............................................................................... 2.4 Nickname.......................................................................... 2.5 Significance in popular culture................................................... 2.6 People in the history of Big Ben..................................................... Chapter 3.Big Ben in the world...................................................................... Conclusion..................................................................................................

Bibliography........................................................................................... Annexes.................................................................................................. ........

Foreword
London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, and the largest city, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly. London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is one of the world's leading financial centres and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world depending on measurement. London has been described as a world cultural capital. It is the world's most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic. My paperwork contains 3 chapters. In the first chapter I present the city of London, which is the capital of England with one of the most visited touristic attractions, Big Ben. In the second chapter I present Big Ben which is located on the banks of the Thames in London and is a part of the House of Parliament. It is a major touristic attraction which over the years has kept its untouched charm. Its elements of building are full of history and each of them has its own history. The clock inside the tower was the world's largest when it was installed in the middle of the 19th century.

The name Big Ben actually refers to the clock's hour bell, the largest of the clock's five bells. The other four are used as quarter bells. The clock was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison (later Sir Edmund Beckett and Lord Grimthorpe in association with Sir George Airy (then astronomer royal) and the clockmaker Edward Dent. Big Ben has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the tower, often with a red double-decker bus or black cab in the foreground. Big Ben has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the tower, often with a red double-decker bus or black cab in the foreground. The third chapter describes the biggest clock in the world, son of Big Ben, Abraj Al Bait. The clock is the largest in the world and is 400 meters above the ground. At 150 years from its manufacture, Big Ben, the famous clock - symbol of London remains the favourite British monument. In my opinion The Big Ben clock is one of the most recognizable structures in London and represents the city, just like Eifel Tower signifies Paris.

Chapter 1.Tourism
London is one of the most visited cities in the world. In terms of international visitor numbers it is comparable with some Far East destinations such as Hong Kong and Singapore but significantly outperforms other European cities (including Paris). In 2010 the capital received more international visitor spend than the remainder of the UK regions put together and visitor volumes in London rose whilst falling in the remainder of England, Wales and Scotland. Nevertheless, the number of jobs supported by tourism in the capital remains around 7 per cent beneath its pre-recession peak. The capital dominates Britains most visited tourist attractions with some sites such as the British Museum attracting more than five million visits annually. However, different attractions in the capital appeal to different visitor types. Its hotel market is fundamentally different to that of the remainder of the country, characterized by higher occupancy rates, higher average daily room rates and far higher levels of profitability. As such the capitals market has far more in common with that of some of its major European competitor cities such as Paris, Barcelona or Rome for instance than the rest of the UK .

1.1. The importance of tourism in Londons economy

London is a popular centre for tourism, one of its prime industries, employing the equivalent of 350,000 full-time workers in 2003, while annual expenditure by tourists is around 15 billion. London attracts over 14 million international visitors per year, making

it Europe's most visited city. London attracts 27 million overnight-stay visitors every year. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) defines tourism as the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes. James Mak (2004) found that about 62 percent of international travel is leisure travel, 18 percent business travel, and the remaining 20 percent is for other purposes. Regardless of what the reason for travel may be there is a direct linkage of tourism and the economy. According to the latest provisional data from the International Passenger Survey in the first quarter of 2010, London welcomed 2.96 million visitors. Tourism is a vital contributor to London's economy, generating approximately 10.6 billion of overnight visitor expenditure in 2009 (Visit London: fact sheet). Evidently tourism represents a relevant source of foreign exchange earning a significant income, benefiting the London economy. This paper will attempt to explore the importance of tourism to the London economy focusing on different aspects in the industry that relate to the economic situation of London. In 2002, Mayor Ken Livingstone devised a massive plan to encourage tourism and thereby improve the economic conditions of the country. He saw tourism as an industry with great potential and therefore intended to benefit the economic situation by improving the efficiency of the system. Since then much of the Mayors plan for tourism in London has been revised and improved upon by the present mayor Boris Johnson. In Livingstones foreword to the publication he stressed that tourism is vital to Londons prosperity. Ours is a world city with unrivalled appeal London has assumed increasing importance as a premier tourist spot especially after turmoil from other rivals that deter tourists from visiting their country. For instance popular tourist spots like Luxor, Alexandria and Sham Al Sheik are now looked upon as hostile environments after the ousting of president Ben Ali in Tunisia and the massive street protests that followed. In an article posted by the Euro news (2011), a Spanish traveller told reporters he had decided to leave Egypt because the situation is getting complicated and dangerous. He added: We cant go anywhere and we have three little daughters. This unrest in rival tourist countries makes the politically stable and hence safer London a prime tourist destination. The graph below, Figure 1, shows the leading cities for international tourism in 2008. It is evidently clear that London is ranked highest for international tourism. London is a city of proud historic tradition, authentic architecture, an entertainment capital as well as an important financial and business centre. Many foreign dignitaries besides attending to their official duties also take time to experience the city as tourists. Leisure activities have more flexibility and there is usually a range of places where particular leisure activities can be undertaken, and far less temporal constraints on their enjoyment, even if

individuals are still bound by obligated, biological and work related time (Shaw and Williams, 2002) The Economic Development Strategy for London recognized that tourism and hospitality sector as one of the most significant forces in the London economy. Tourism and leisure are also important elements in labour markets, with tourism accounting for more than one million jobs in the UK alone. (Williams and Shaw, 1998) The London Tourist Boards Tourism Strategy for London has calculated that the number of jobs created by tourism in 1985 is around 275,000 full-time job equivalents. This accounts for some 8 per cent of all Londons employment. This calculation includes day visitor spend which is estimated to add 10 per cent to the total (25,000 jobs) Since then, the plan stresses on the fragility of the key economic statistics on Londons tourism as the structure of employment in the industry has changed considerably for example in the advancements of the information and communication technologies as well as part-time employment and capital investment. However, tourism is set to grow with this increasing rate of tourism it will inevitably bring profit to the economic situation in London, refer to Figure 2 below. The Draft London Plan forecasts that growth in employment in hotels and catering will be second only to financial and business services. Technical Report Thirteen on hotel capacity and demand predicts a 3.4 per cent annual increase in overseas visits to London between 2000 and 2020. The service sector has increased in importance, in both absolute and relative terms, in most economies in recent decades. (Knox and Agnew, 1998) As the service sector benefits greatly a multiplier effect comes into play which creates interfirm linkages which all have much ado with the economy. The geography of the production of leisure and tourism services does share many features with other sectors (Agarwal, 2000). Shaw and Williams (2002) found that catering held strong links to the agricultural sector and also that there was coherence between inter-regional transport firms, as well as some forms of furniture producers. It is this multiplier effect that concerns the way in which expenditure in tourism filters throughout the economy, stimulating other sectors as it does so (Pearce, 1989) Although this may represent profit within the economic sector of the city Smith (1995) argues that regrettably, the abuse of multipliers often seen to be as frequent as legitimate uses thus contributing further to the industrys lack of credibility. This pessimistic view holds certain truth as corruption is well within the tourist industry, however the extent to this is not as severe as to cause a significant downfall in the economy. Another point stressed by the mayor is Londons success in the global tourism marketplace of which had a major impact on the performance of the UK tourism economy. The mayor has restated his commitment to ensuring that London continues to contribute to the wider interests of the British tourism industry. The visionary plan fittingly called Visit London will seek to sustain Londons international profile and status as a world city as it has long been established as the international gateway to the UK, according to the Tourism Company (2002), with 59 percent of overseas visitors

arriving via one of Londons airports. Over half of overseas visitors spend time in London, many of whom travel by rail car and coach. This leads me to my next point, which is the importance of the travel infrastructure. Geoff Muirhead, CEO of an airport group, stressed the importance of the aviation industry in the UK economy four group airports generate more than 3 billion pounds for UK plc, and support thousands of travel and tourism related jobs. Inbound tourism is clearly good news for the British economy, while overseas travel allows UK citizens a well earned break in a sunnier climate. We need to find ways of supporting both these aspects of tourism much more effectively, given their importance to the UK economy as a whole. The hospitality and leisure development is also greatly interlinked with the development of an efficient travel infrastructure. Whitbread Chief Executive Alan Parker explained that the hospitality industry depends heavily on the infrastructure of air, road and rail links, which transport clients to the hotels. If infrastructure does not keep pace with growth, then business and tourism could drift away from the UK to other markets on the continent. In conjunction with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games more than 11 billion pounds of investment is set to flow into the capital between now and 2012, much of this funding goes into a range of various developments for the reconstruction of East London, particularly the transport system. Accessibility is an important aspect in tourism as tourism requires a journey, similarly the view through the car windscreen has also had significant consequences for the nature of the visual glance, enabling the materiality of the city or the landscape to be clearly appreciated (Larsen, 2001) Hence the mode of transportation is essential in creating an efficient tourist experience which undoubtedly brings revenue into the country. WTTC Chairman Geoffrey Kent commented on the infrastructural plan and said, the government must put a long term infrastructure plan with at least a 15 year horizon. The 2012 Olympic Games will provide the platform, focus and budget for this long-term plan, which will drive the forecasted tourist demand. The Olympic Games is not the only highly anticipated major sporting event going to be held in London as it also plays host to mass events such as tennis at Wimbledon, cricket at Lords and the Oval, and rugby at Twickenham all representing pull factors that attract the tourists. Apart from sporting activities London is also rife with entertainment, art and music scenes renowned for edge and creativity. The cultural diversity and authentic music spots such as the ever so eclectic Camden Town is just one of the many interesting places tourist visit and due to consumerism succumb to marketing ploys that inevitably benefits the citys economy. An article on Late Night London (2002) reports that 500,000 young people are estimated to go clubbing in London on a Saturday night, the club scene again gains lucratively especially as in contrast to the United States the legal age to consume alcohol in London is 18 and hence teenagers deprived of such an experience in America can enjoy in London.

Tourism has brought exceptional to the city of London in terms of the economy and hence benefits the living standards of Londoners of which become increasingly apparent. In reference to the Mayors plan, the quality of life of the locals increase tremendously with both leisure and employment opportunities. With all the development of travel and industry that is essential in fostering an efficient tourist system, in hindsight it also greatly benefits the locals, as accessibility is improved. The tourism sector accounts for 12 per cent of Londons Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supports 13 per cent of Londons workforce. Growth in the tourism benefits London economically and crucially distributes that benefit across Londons sub-regions, communities and businesses through direct and indirect means or expenditure. In conclusion, it is evident that tourism is important to Londons economy. It is not only the source of all job opportunities but it also requires development of less industrialized areas and hence benefits not only the economy but also society. For instance the concern of addressing Canary Wharfs, located in Londons financial district, deepening infrastructure constraints, which according to a world travel and tourism council press release is jeopardizing economic prospects and seriously affects the experience of millions of travellers across the world. The development of travel infrastructure is also essential as to portray London as a Gateway to the UK and also as the travel industry is one that holds many job opportunities that can be readily distributed within the population thus increasing the quality of life of the local Londoners.

1.2 Touristic places in London

From London Eye, the National Gallery and Tower of London, below are London's most visited tourist attractions. Many of the attractions in the top 10 are free: there's no better place to soak up some culture. Whether you prefer history or modern art, you'll find it here. You can book to visit others via the buttons below. The list below is in order of popularity based on visitor numbers in 2010 or latest available numbers in the case of the London Eye and Madame Tussauds Ten most-visited attractions in London were: 1) 2) Tate Modern 3) National Gallery 4) Big Ben 5) London Eye 6) Science Museum 7) Victoria and Albert Museum 8) Madame Tussauds 9) National Maritime Museum 10) Tower of London The British Museum shows the work of man from prehistoric times to the present day. There are permanent displays of antiquities from Egypt, Western Asia,

Greece and Rome. It also includes one of the most famous libraries in the world. The British Museum is a museum in London dedicated to human history and culture. Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate. It is based in the former Bankside Power Station, in the Bankside area of Central London. Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art. The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the main collection is free of charge. The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). The Science Museum was founded in 1857 as part of the South Kensington Museum, and gained independence in 1909. Today the Museum is world renowned for its historic collections, awe-inspiring galleries and inspirational exhibitions The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), London, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the Prince Consort. The V&A is located in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area that has become known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. The V&A covers 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Madam Tussauds is the first waxworks museum in the world from 1835 and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in London with over 2 million visitors a year. The Baker Street based attraction has a huge range of models of famous people from different walks of life. New models are being produced all the time while people who have become less famous are removed from displays and put in storage. The National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and 17th-century Queen's House. In 2012, Her Majesty The Queen formally approved Royal Museums Greenwich as the new overall title for the National Maritime Museum, Queens House, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the Cutty Sark. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the National Maritime Museum does

not levy an admission charge although most temporary exhibitions do incur admission charges. Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England, United Kingdom. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

Chapter 2. Big Ben

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north of the Palace of Westminster in London, and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower. The tower is now officially called the Elizabeth Tower, after being renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The Elizabeth Tower holds the largest fourfaced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower. The tower was completed in 1858 and had its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009, during which celebratory events took place. The Elizabeth Tower has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England and is often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

2.1 The Construction

The clock was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison (later Sir Edmund Beckett and Lord Grimthorpe) in association with Sir George Airy (then astronomer royal) and the clockmaker Edward Dent. Denisons principal contribution was a novel gravity escapement that imparted unprecedented accuracy to the clock. In a pendulum clock an escape wheel is allowed to rotate through the pitch of one tooth for each double swing of the pendulum and to transmit an impulse to the pendulum to keep it swinging. An ideal escapement would transmit the impulse without interfering with the free swing, and the impulse should be as uniform as possible. The double three-legged gravity escapement designed by Denison for Big Ben achieves the second of these but not the first. In 1852 Dent won the commission to make the great clock, but he died before completing the project, and it was subsequently finished by his son, Frederick Dent. The clock and bell were installed together in 1859.

The Elizabeth Tower (previously called the Clock Tower) named in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee year was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed by fire on the night of 16 October 1834. The new Parliament was built in a Neo-gothic style. Although Barry was the chief architect of the Palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the clock tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall. The design for the Elizabeth Tower was Pugin's last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful." The tower is designed in Pugin's celebrated Gothic Revival style, and is 315 feet (96.0 m) high (roughly 16 storeys). The bottom 200 feet (61.0 m) of Elizabeth Tower's structure consists of brickwork with sand coloured Anston limestone cladding. The remainder of the tower's height is a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 50 feet (15.2 m) square raft, made of 10 feet (3.0 m) thick concrete, at a depth of 13 feet (4.0 m) below ground level. The four clock dials are 180 feet (54.9 m) above ground. The interior volume of the tower is 164,200 cubic feet (4,650 cubic metres). Despite being one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, the interior of the tower is not open to overseas visitors, though United Kingdom residents are able to arrange tours (well in advance) through their Member of Parliament. However, the tower has no lift, so those escorted must climb the 334 limestone stairs to the top. Due to changes in ground conditions since construction, the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 230 millimetres (9.1 in) over 55 m height, giving an inclination of approximately 1/240. This includes a planned maximum of 22 mm increased tilt due to tunnelling for the Jubilee Line extension) Due to thermal effects it oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west. Journalists during Queen Victoria's reign called it St Stephen's Tower. As MPs originally sat at St Stephen's Hall, these journalists referred to anything related to the House of Commons as news from "St Stephens". On 2 June 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that 331 Members of Parliament, including senior members of all three main parties, supported a proposal to change the name from Clock Tower to "Elizabeth Tower" in tribute to the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year. This is thought to be appropriate because the large west tower now known as Victoria Tower was renamed in tribute to Queen Victoria on her Diamond Jubilee. On 26 June, the House of Commons confirmed that the name change could go ahead. Prime Minister Cameron announced the change of name on 12 September 2012, at the start of Prime minister's questions. The change was marked by a naming ceremony in which the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow unveiled a name plaque attached to the tower on Speaker's Green. The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock dials are set in an iron frame 23 feet (7.0 m) in diameter, supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained-glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is gilded. At the base of each clock dial in gilt letters is the Latin inscription: Which means O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First. The

design is of an elaborate iron framework of diameter 23 feet supporting 312 individual pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for the purpose of inspecting the centre of the hands. The numerals (each 2 feet high) are unusual in displaying 'IV' rather than the usual 'IIII' on clocks. The surround of the dials is gilded lavishly.

2.2 The Movement

The clock's movement is famous for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent; after his death in 1853 his stepson Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854. As the Tower was not complete until 1859, Denison had time to experiment: Instead of using the deadbeat and reconnoitre as originally designed, Denison invented the double threelegged gravity escapement. This escapement provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism. The pendulum is installed within an enclosed windproof box sunk beneath the clock room. It is 13 feet (4.0 m) long, weighs 660 pounds (300 kg) and beats every 2 seconds. The clockwork mechanism in a room below weighs 5 tons. On top of the pendulum is a small stack of old penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum's centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.4 seconds per day On 10 May 1941, a German bombing raid damaged two of the clock's dials and sections of the tower's stepped roof and destroyed the House of Commons chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new five-floor block. Two floors are occupied by the current chamber, which was used for the first time on 26 October 1950. Despite the heavy bombing the clock ran accurately and chimed throughout the Blitz. Elizabeth Tower tilts as a result of the excavation of tunnels near Westminster.The tower has tilted an additional 0.9 mm each year since 2003, and the tilt can now be seen by the naked eye. Malfunctions, breakdowns, and other outages

1916: for two years during World War I, the bells were silenced and the clock face darkened at night to prevent attack by German Zeppelins. 1 September 1939: although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were darkened at night through World War II to prevent guiding Blitz pilots. New Year's Eve 1962: The clock slowed due to heavy snow and ice on the long hands, causing the pendulum to detach from the clockwork, as it is designed to do in such circumstances, to avoid serious damage elsewhere in the mechanism the pendulum continuing to swing freely. Thus it chimed in the new year 10 minutes late. 5 August 1976: First and only major breakdown. The air brake speed regulator of the chiming mechanism broke after more than 100 years of torsion fatigue, causing the fully wound 4-ton weight to spin the winding drum out of the movement, causing a large amount of damage. The Great Clock was shut down for a total of 26 days over nine months it was reactivated on 9 May 1977; this was its longest break in operation since its construction. During this time BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips. Although there were minor stoppages from 1977 to 2002 when the

maintenance of the clock was carried out by the old firm of clockmakers Thwaites & Reed, these were often repaired within the permitted two hour downtime and not recorded as stoppages. Prior to 1970 maintenance was carried out by the original firm of Dents and since 2002 by Parliamentary staff. 27 May 2005: the clock stopped at 10:07 pm local time, possibly because of hot weather; temperatures in London had reached an unseasonable 31.8 C (90 F). It resumed, but stopped again at 10:20 pm local time and remained still for about 90 minutes before resuming. 29 October 2005: the mechanism was stopped for about 33 hours so the clock and its chimes could be worked on. It was the lengthiest maintenance shutdown in 22 years. 7:00 am 5 June 2006: The clock tower's "Quarter Bells" were taken out of commission for four weeks as a bearing holding one of the quarter bells was damaged from years of wear and needed to be removed for repairs. During this period, BBC Radio 4 broadcast recordings of British bird song followed by the pips in place of the usual chimes. 11 August 2007: Start of 6-week stoppage for maintenance. Bearings in the clock's going train and the "great bell" striker were replaced, for the first time since installation. During the maintenance works, the clock was not driven by the original mechanism, but by an electric motor. Once again, BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips during this time.

2.3 Great Bell

The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben. The original bell was a 16 ton (16.3-tonne) hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stocktonon-Tees by John Warner & Sons. The bell was named in honour of Sir Benjamin Hall, and his name is inscribed on it. However, another theory for the origin of the name is that the bell may have been named after a contemporary heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt. It is thought that the bell was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, but that an MP suggested the nickname during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard. Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress. Unfortunately, it cracked beyond repair while being tested and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast on 10 April 1858 at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13 ton (13.76-tonne) bell. This was pulled 200 ft (61.0 m) up to the Clock Towers belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. It is 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) tall and 9 feet (2.74 m) diameter. This new bell first chimed in July 1859. In September it too cracked under the hammer, a mere two months after it officially went into service. According to the foundry's manager, George Mears, Denison had used a hammer more than twice the maximum weight specified. For three years Big Ben was taken out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was reinstalled. To make the repair, a square piece of metal was chipped out from the rim around the crack, and the bell given an

eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place. Big Ben has chimed with a slightly different tone ever since and is still in use today complete with the crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Great Paul", a 16 ton (17 tonne) bell currently hung in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast in 1881.

Chimes
Along with the Great Bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells sound G, F, E, and B. They were cast by John Warner & Sons at their Crescent Foundry in 1857 (G,F, and B) and 1858 (E). The Foundry was in Jewin Crescent, in what is now known as The Barbican, in the City of London. The Quarter Bells play a 20-chime sequence, 14 at quarter past, 512 at half past, 1320 and 14 at quarter to, and 520 on the hour (which sounds 25 seconds before the main bell tolls the hour). Because the low bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Great St Mary's church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, on a phrase from Handel's Messiah. The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary's and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37:2324, are: "All through this hour/Lord be my guide/And by Thy power/No foot shall slide". They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room. One of the requirements for the clock was that the first stroke of the hour bell should register the time, correct to within one second per day. So, at twelve o'clock, for example, it is the first of the twelve chimes that signifies the hour (the New Year on New Year's Eve at midnight).

2.4 Nickname
The origin of the name Big Ben is not known, although two different theories exist: The first is that is was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the first commissioner of works, a large man who was known affectionately in the house as "Big Ben". The second theory is that it was named after a heavyweight boxing champion at that time, Benjamin Caunt. Also known as "Big Ben", this nickname was commonly bestowed in society to anything that was the heaviest in its class.

2.5 Significance in popular culture

The clock has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the tower, often with a red doubledecker bus or black cab in the foreground.

The sound of the clock chiming has also been used this way in audio media, but as the Westminster Quarters are heard from other clocks and other devices, the unique nature of this sound has been considerably diluted. Big Ben is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the New Year. As well, to welcome in 2012, the clock tower itself was lit with fireworks that exploded at every toll of Big Ben.Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the start of two minutes' silence. Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the Tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both live and on analogue radio, hear the bell strike thirteen times. This is possible due to what amounts to an offset between live and electronically transmitted chimes since the speed of sound is a lot slower than the speed of radio waves. Guests are invited to count the chimes aloud as the radio is gradually turned down. ITN's News at Ten opening sequence formerly featured an image of the Elizabeth Tower with the sound of Big Ben's chimes punctuating the announcement of the news headlines. The Big Ben chimes (known within ITN as "The Bongs") continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock dial. Big Ben can also be heard striking the hour before some news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 (6 pm and midnight, plus 10 pm on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a practice that began on 31 December 1923. The sound of the chimes are sent in real time from a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected by line to Broadcasting House. The Tower has appeared in many films, most notably in the 1978 version of The Thirty Nine Steps, in which the hero, Richard Hannay, attempted to halt the clock's progress (to prevent a linked bomb detonating) by hanging from the minute hand of its western dial. In the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball, a mistaken extra strike of Big Ben on the hour is designated by criminal organisation SPECTRE to be the signal that the British Government has acceded to its nuclear extortion demands. It was also used in the filming of Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was depicted as being partially destroyed in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London". Big Ben was also featured in the closing scene of James McTeigue's film V for Vendetta in which a futuristic depiction of Guy Fawkes succeeds in blowing up parliament, and the tower's bells and pendulum are sounded with a final screech at the beginning of the explosion. The apparent "thirteen chimes" detailed above was also a major plot device in the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode, "Big Ben Strikes Again". It has featured prominently in several animated Walt Disney films, including The Great Mouse Detective, Peter Pan and Cars 2. At the close of the polls for the 2010 General Election the results of the national exit poll were projected onto the south side of the Elizabeth Tower. On 27 July 2012, starting at 8:12 a.m, Big Ben chimed thirty times, to welcome in the London Olympic Games (i.e. the 30th Olympiad), which officially began that day.

2.3. People in the history of Big Ben

Foremost among all those involved in the design and construction of the Great Clock will always be Edmund Beckett Denison (Lord Grimthorpe) (1816-1905). The success of the Great Clock, in particular its ability to meet the specification that the hours be struck accurate to one second, is due to his inspired invention of the double three-legged gravity escapement which has proven so successful in isolating the pendulum from the influences of forces on the hands. The success of this invention achieved such universal recognition that it became a standard component of turret clocks. Although he was not a diplomat, it was Denison's tenacity and conviction which brought about successful completion of the clock. Denison studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge. It is likely he became familiar with the chimes of the clock of Great St. Mary's (the Cambridge Chimes, now more commonly called the Westminster Chimes) during this period. Denison practiced as a lawyer and established a fearsome reputation in this as well as other areas. The acrimonious disputes in which he became involved over the Great Clock were certainly not unique to that situation. He became Lord Grimthorpe in 1886. Denison collaborated closely with Edward John Dent (?-1853) who constructed the clock. Dent had completed a very successful public clock for the Royal Exchange under Airy's direction and was the clockmaker of choice of both Denison and Airy. Turret clocks were not his main interest and Dent had won awards for his development of the marine chronometer. Both Denison and Airy were impressed with his progressive approach. Dent died before the clock was completed and his nephew, Frederick Rippon became head of the firm having satisfied his uncle's condition that he change his surname to Dent. The work and installation was completed by Frederick Dent after his uncle's death, and the inscription on the frame of the clock bears his name. The Royal Astronomer, Sir George Biddell Airy was the first referee appointed to the construction the Great Clock. It was Airy who prepared the initial specification in 1846 which called for a clock which would strike the hours accurate to one second. Denison was subsequently appointed joint referee and revised Airy's specification and Dent's designs. Their working relationship was not always harmonious and Denison's lack of cooperation with the architect, Sir Charles Barry, led to Airy's temporary resignation as referee in 1853. Although the principal architect of the Palace and the clocktower was Sir Charles Barry (1794-1860), it was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) who undertook the detailed design of the dials and the decoration about the dials and belfry. It is probably Pugin, therefore, who was responsible for the unusual 'IV' rather than the customary 'IIII' on the dials. It is also Pugin who persuaded Charles Barry that dials 30 feet in diameter would be too large and reduced them to 23 feet.

Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780-1854) was well known as an accomplished clockmaker who had many fine turret clocks to his credit. Charles Barry originally invited Vulliamy

alone to submit tenders for not only the Great Clock, but also for all the other clocks which would be required throughout the New Palace. Vulliamy was unhappy with Airy being chosen as referee and was most indignant when Dent succeeded in obtaining the contract. In particular, he stated publicly his considered opinion that it was impossible to make a clock of such size keep time to within one second. He did not live to see the successful completion of the clock.
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Chapter 3.Big Ben in the world

Abraj Al Bait

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is a building complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that strives to modernize the holy city in catering to the pilgrims. The complex holds several world records, the tallest clock tower in the world, the world's largest clock face and the building with the world's largest floor area The complex's hotel tower became the second tallest building in the world in 2012, surpassing Taiwan's Taipei 101 and surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The building complex is metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th century Ottoman citadel which stood atop a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the fort in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked Turkish and international outcry. The building is topped by a four-faced clock, visible from 25 kilometres (16 miles) away. The clock is the largest in the world and is 400 meters above the ground. The clock dwarfs London's Big Ben, once the largest four-faced clock in the world, and the previous holder of that title, the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The clock's

face is also bigger than the previous record holder as the largest clock face in the world, the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul. Each of the clock's four faces measure 46 m (151 ft) in diameter and are illuminated by 2 million LED lights, with four oriented edges, just above the clock alongside huge Arabic script reading: God is the Greatest on the north and south faces and on the west and east the Koran. Four golden domes on pillars on all the corners are also present. Another 21,000 white and green colored lights, the same as the Saudi Flag, fitted at the top of the clock, will flash to signal Islam's five-times daily prayers, and will be visible as far as 30 km (19 mi) away. On special occasions such as new year, 16 bands of vertical lights will shoot some 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) up into the sky. The clock's four faces will be covered with 98 million pieces of glass mosaics. The Saudi coat of arms is displayed at the center of each clock behind the dials. The minute hand is 22 m (72 ft) long, while the hour hand is 17 m (56 ft) long.

An observatory deck is at the base of the clock. Elevators take visitors up to an observation balcony just beneath the clock faces. There were rumors that the clock would be set to local Mecca Time, in an attempt to replace Greenwich as the prime meridian for global time keeping, but the clock is actually set to Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).

The spire
The clock tower is topped by a 93 m (305 ft) spire with 23 m (75 ft) high golden crescent at the top. The spire has the black observation pod at the bottom which contains a lunar gallery, a control tower and the main observation deck. The crescent was constructed in Dubai by Premier Composite Technology in April 2011. The crescent is made of fiberglass-backed mosaic gold, and it weighs up to 35 tons. Peugeot Joseph, the company official, said a team of five engineers and a hundred workers carried out the project, which cost 90 million United Arab Emirates dirham, and it took three months to build it. The company has also constructed the Mecca Clock. The Crescent was divided into 10 parts to move it to Mecca. The crescent was partly assembled on the base of the clock-face to reduce it to 5 parts. Those five parts were then lifted and installed above the spire from 20 June to 6 July 2011. The minaret and its base have massive loudspeakers that will emit prayer calls to a distance of seven km while nearly 21,000 lamps will illuminate the surrounding area to a distance of 30 km. During occasions like Muslim Eids and new Hijri years, a 16-beam light will illuminate an area of a diameter of around 10 km while 21,000 lamps will beam white and green lights to a distance of 30 km. The light beams are intended to allow deaf persons or Muslims in far areas to know prayer timings in the western parts of Mecca and nearby cities. Yet, despite the claimed need for illumination and awareness of prayer timings in discrete areas and portions around and in Mecca, there are well over 200

existing old mosques in the city; most are frequently attended and therefore well equipped with Muadhins to call the prayer.

Conclusion

London was founded as a communication center by the Romans shortly after they invaded Britain in 43 AD. Londinium, as it was called then, was a little village on the Thames., on the route to the provincial capital in eastern England. The Romans built a bridge across Thames on that route, the first bridge on the Thames near the little village. London had narrow, congested streets lined with tiny shops and houses built of wood and plaster back then. Even the London Bridge, which was considerably more than just a river crossing, had this tendency of narrow, crowded spaces. Therefore, a new stone bridge was built in 1176 to replace the old one. The city of London grew, and so did its population;

by 1600 there were 200.000 souls, by the end of the 17th century shot up to 575.000, surpassing Paris as the largest city in Europe. Thus, London became the biggest city in Europe. It also became a cultural center , the center of the English cultural Renaissance, with major figures as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare. London was Britain's economic powerhouse and the center of a burgeoning empire. The city continued to grow and develop to what we see today, always combining the past with the present. In fact, that's what I think of when I think of London: a perfect binding of the past and the present. I think of the Big Ben, the Houses of parliament, 10 Downing Street, the Tower Bridge, the Great Fire, Barbican Arts Center, parks, Nelson's statue in Trafalgar square, the wax museum, Buckingham palace, the double deckers, the black cabs and, last but not the least, rain. The Houses of Parliament, also called the Palace of Westminster, range along the Thames with Victoria Tower at one end and Big Ben, the famous bell in the Clock Tower, at the other. Westminster Abbey, built in Gothic style, has been the scene of the coronation of sovereigns from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II. Buckingham Palace was made the official residence of the Sovereign by Queen Victoria. The Royal Guards change at 11.30 every day much to the delight of the tourists. Sir Christopher Wren's baroque masterpiece known as St. Paul's Cathedral was built after the Great Fire in 1066. The Duke of Wellington, Wren himself and Nelson are buried here. Lord Nelson's statue dominates Trafalgar Square, a big square in the center of London named in commemoration of a great English naval victory. People and especially pigeons gather here to see the fountains, the big lions and the statue of the victorious Admiral. The National Gallery, situated on the north side of Trafalgar Square, houses one of the richest collection of paintings, most Renaissance and Impressionist works. Madame Tussaud's exhibits wax models instead, models of famous historical characters, film and sports starts, Royalty statesmen. A more conventional museum is the British Museum, which shows the works of man from prehistoric times to the present day. There are permanent displays of antiquities from Egypt, Western Asia, Greece and Rome. It also includes one of the most famous libraries in the world. But there isn't much excitement in the British Museum, for fun and entertainment one could always go to the Barbican Arts Center, a good example of modern architecture. And after the sunset, there are dozens of theatres just a few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus (West End theatres), and so is the world famous Covent Garden, home of the Royal Opera. For those who like discos and nightclubs, they can find them near Leicester Square, open till late. The Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower, commonly called Big Ben, are among London's most iconic landmarks. Technically, Big Ben is the name given to the massive bell inside the clock tower, which weighs more than 13 tons (13,760 kg). The clock tower looks spectacular at night when the four clock faces are illuminated. The Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire in 1834. In 1844, it was decided the new buildings for the Houses of Parliament should include a tower and a clock. A massive bell was required and the first attempt (made by John Warner & Sons at Stockton-on-Tees) cracked irreparably. The metal was melted down and the bell recast in Whitechapel in 1858. Big Ben first rang across Westminster on 31 May 1859. A short time later, in September 1859, Big Ben cracked. A lighter hammer was fitted and the bell

rotated to present an undamaged section to the hammer. This is the bell as we hear it today. The origin of the name Big Ben is not known, although two different theories exist. -The first is that is was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the first commissioner of works, a large man who was known affectionately in the house as "Big Ben". -The second theory is that it was named after a heavyweight boxing champion at that time, Benjamin Caunt. Also known as "Big Ben", this nickname was commonly bestowed in society to anything that was the heaviest in its class. You can take a tour of the Houses of Parliament. The Elizabeth Tower is not open to the general public although UK residents can arrange a visit by writing to their MP. Applications should be made in writing, as far in advance as possible, to:House of Commons, Westminster, London. It is not possible for overseas visitors to tour the clock tower. The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is a building complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that strives to modernize the holy city in catering to the pilgrims. The complex holds several world records, the tallest clock tower in the world, the world's largest clock face and the building with the world's largest floor area[citation needed]. The complex's hotel tower became the second tallest building in the world in 2012, surpassing Taiwan's Taipei 101 and surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The building complex is metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th century Ottoman citadel which stood atop a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the fort in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked Turkish and international outcry. The tallest tower in the complex stands as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, with a height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). Currently it is the second tallest building in the world, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan. The structure has surpassed Dubai International Airport in having the largest floor area of any structure in the world with 1,500,000 m2 (16,150,000 sq ft) of floorspace. The site of the complex is located across the street to the south from an entrance to the Masjid al Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba. To accommodate worshipers visiting the Kaaba, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers has a large prayer room capable of holding more than 10,000 people. The tallest tower in the complex also contains a five-star hotel, operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, to help provide lodging for the millions of pilgrims that travel to Mecca annually to participate in the Hajj. In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers has a 20 story shopping mall (the Abraj Al Bait Mall) and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles. Residential towers house permanent residents while two heliports and a conference center are to

accommodate business travelers. In total, up to 100,000 people could be housed inside the towers.[citation needed] The project uses clock faces for each side of the hotel tower. The highest residential floor stands at 450 metres (1,480 feet), just below the spires. The clock faces are 43 m 43 m (141 ft 141 ft), the largest in the world. The roof of the clocks is 530 metres (1,740 feet) above the ground, making them the world's most elevated architectural clocks. A 71-metre-tall spire (233 ft) has been added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 metres (1,972 feet), which makes it the second tallest building in the world, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The tower also includes an Islamic Museum and a Lunar Observation Center which will also be used to sight the moon during the Holy Months. The building was planned to be 734 meters tall in 2006. In 2009, it was published that the final height will be 601 meters. The complex was built by the Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Arabia's largest construction company. The clock tower was designed by the German company Premiere Composite Technologies, and the clock by the Swiss engineering firm Straintec. According to the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowments, the project cost $15 billion. In my oppinion London is a perfect binding of the past and the present, a city with so many places to visit that one couldn't find the time to view them all. Samuel Johnson was right when he said that when someone is tired of London he is tired of life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES:

1. Peter Macdonald, Big Ben: The Bell, the Clock and the Tower , Publisher: The History Press , London,2005 2. Chris McKay's, Big Ben: The Great Clock and the Bells at the Palace of Westminster, Oxford University Press, USA ,2010 The Mystery at Big Ben3. Carole Marsh, The Mystery at Big Ben,Publisher: Gallopade International, 2005 4. Ann Lockhart, Big Ben and the Westminster Clock Tower, 1997

WEBSITES:
http://.wikipedia.org http://www.britannica.com http://www.ukessays.com http://www.parliament.uk http://www.gothereguide.com http://www.britainexpress.com http://www.ringsurf.com www.england.org.z

ANNEXES

Annex 1. British Museum

Annex2. Tate Modern

Annex3. National Gallery

Annex4. Big Ben

Annex 5. London Eye

Annex6. Science Museum

Annex 7. Victoria and Albert Museum

Annex 8. National Maritime Museum

Annex9. Tower of London

Annex10. Madame Tussauds

Annex 11. Abraj Al Bait