Big Ben

НА ГЛАВНУЮ

INTRODUCTION

WHY ALL ROADS GO TO LONDON?

HISTORY OF LONDON

THE GROWTH OF LONDON

MODERN LONDON

SIGHTSEEING

Trafalgar square

St. Paul's Cathedral

The tower of London

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

The Bank of England

THE CITY OF LONDON

AS A FINANCIAL CENTER

LONDON'S VILLAGES

THE ROUT OF VISITING

THE MAIN

CONCLUSION

Do you want to know why this bell is called "Big Ben"? People say that when the great bell was cast in London foundry in 1858, the question of its name was discussed in Parliament. One MP suggested to call it Big Ben.

There was much laughter among the members because the man in charge of public buildings, the Chief Commissioner of Works was Sir Benjamin Hall, a very stout big man whose nickname was "Big Ben".

From that time the bell has been known as Big Ben. The bell is 7 feet 6 inches high, and 9 feet 6 inches across the mouth. It weights 13.5 tons (about the same as two double-decker buses).

"Big Ben" is the name of the bell only - not the clock, and not the tower. The bell is heard at every hour. It is the big bell (13.720 kilo­grams) with a deep voice, and it counts the hours. Its deep voice is heard on the radio. You may hear, "This is the BBC. The time is six o'clock". And you hear the deep BOOM of Big Ben six times.