The Great Westminster Clock

The Clock Tower's bell at the Palace of Westminster, 'Big Ben'(note E natural)and the four quarter bells (G sharp, F sharp, E and B), sound the Westminster chimes.

The chimes are set to the following prayer: 'All through this hour, Lord be my guide, And by thy power, no foot shall slide.

Looked After Children from Hertfordshire climbed 96m via 344 steps to the belfry (and saw another 59 to the Ayrto Light), inserted ear plugs and witnessed the bells striking 3pm on the ocassion of Big Ben's 150th birthday, thanks to Charles Walker MP who had kindly sponsored the event.

The four clock dials, framed in cast iron and glazed with 312 separate pieces of illuminated opal glass, are each 7m in diameter. The hour hands are made of gun metal, each 2.7m long and weighing about 300kg. The minutes hands are made of copper sheet 4.2m long, weighing 100kg and travel a distance equalling 190 kilometres (120 miles) a year.

Although no longer accessible, there are rooms in the tower which were used in the past to detain MPs or Peers for breach of conduct. They were last used in 1880 when Chalres Bradlaugh MP, an atheist, refused to take the oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria on the Bible.

It was a great honour to share Big Ben's birthday and a truly memorable ocassion: each time I now hear the bells of The Great Westminster Clock, I recall the prayer.

Virtual Tour:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00564/
clocktoweranniversa_564271a.mov
LAC Report:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/
cmselect/cmchilsch/787/787.pdf