Throng out for swansong Big Ben bong after ban ding-dong
Big Ben’s bongs have been silenced as part of a controversial renovation plan that will stop it ringing out for up to four years. Sam Lister and Arj Singh report...
MPs and parliamentary workers gathered yesterday to listen as Big Ben’s Great Bell chimed noon before being halted for what could be four silent years.
Parliament bowed to pressure last week when it announced it would review the plans, which will silence the bell for the longest period in its 157-year history, after Prime Minister Theresa May joined an MPs’ outcry against the move
Nearby, hundreds of people watching from inside the parliamentary estate and outside its perimeter clapped and cheered as noon was struck.
Labour’s Stephen Pound said it was a “desperately sad” moment and said the decision showed a “real poverty of imagination.
In a typically jocular move the Ealing North MP reached for a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes as the bell tolled.
Mr Pound conceded the backlash had become a little over the top.
Asked if was partly responsible for that, he replied: “In my small way to contribute to the chimes of freedom ringing out, I put my hand up.”
“In many ways I think we are in danger of losing something that we don’t actually realise and value enough at the moment.”
Mr Pound had hoped to have been joined by at least 20 “like-minded traditionalists” to witness the halting of the bongs, but just a few watched from the grounds.
The 13.7-tonne Great Bell was last stopped for maintenance in 2007 and before that was halted for two years in 1983 for refurbishment, but has been stopped on a number of other occasions since it first sounded in 1859.
Parliamentary officials have insisted workers’ hearing would be put at “serious risk” if the bell continued chiming.
They warned that those using the 100-metre-high scaffolding around the tower could also be startled by the 118-decibel bongs.
The House of Commons Commission – which is made up of MPs, officials, lay members, and chaired by Speaker John Bercow – will review the timescale for repairs when Parliament returns after the summer break.
Liberal Democrat Tom Brake, who answers his colleagues’ questions on the Commission’s behalf, said one concession could be allowing Big Ben to chime on more special occasions.
It comes after a trio of Eurosceptic Tory MPs called for Big Ben to bong Britain out of the European Union on Brexit day, expected on March 29 2019.
Plans were already in place for the bell to chime on New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Day.
Mr Brake said the “longest period of time” the bells might be out of operation is four years and insisted the authorities would want to have them working for unplanned national events such as royal funerals.
He said it was “too early to say” if they would ring the country out of the European Union in 2019, adding: “If they were to ring, people could read into the ringing of those bells either a celebration, or perhaps the alternative.”
The bells at Westminster Abbey rang out “to say farewell to Big Ben” as it was silenced.
Its bell ringers began with the fourth quarter of the familiar Westminster Chimes, followed by 12 “whole pulls” of rounds to represent the hour strike.
They then rang 558 changes to mark the number of individual rings in the 12-hour cycle of the Great Clock.
Outside, visitors from around the world turned Big Ben’s final chimes for up to four years into a party atmosphere on Parliament Square.
Hundreds of people gathered in the shadow of the clock tower, filming and taking pictures on their phones before a spontaneous round of applause broke out after the final distinctive “bong”.
“It was fantastic to be here, the atmosphere was electric around the whole area and it was lovely to see everyone come together,” said Victoria Gibson, who was visiting London from Preston for a week’s holiday.
“I think it’s a real shame. It’s part of our heritage, our tradition, it’s part of the fabric of London.
“So it is a shame, but if the work has to be done then it has to be done.”
Many in the crowd had simply stumbled upon the final chimes as part of their visit, including Gracie and Stanley from Hong Kong, who are spending nine days in the UK capital.
“If it’s needed to keep it going so it can keep ringing in the future then of course they should do it,” said Gracie.
“Four years does seem quite a long time though. We’re just happy we got to come before it stopped.”
Otto Haas, meanwhile, had brought an international group of students to London from the School of English at Sussex Coast College Hastings, with students from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, China and Vietnam.
“They all thought they were very, very lucky to be here on this particular day, and just looking at the huge number of people here it’s quite an event today,” he said.
“It seems to be quite a long time to miss the chimes of Big Ben, but we’ve made it into an event in itself.”
A group of around a dozen antiBrexit demonstrators waved European Union flags, while a pearly king, prince and princess added colour to proceedings.
“I think it’s really sad,” said Jessica Fulcher, the Pearly Princess of Peckham. “It’s a huge tourist attraction, every year everyone comes over for new year and you won’t hear the bells, so it is sad.
“It’s our history as well, dating right the way back to the 1700s, so it is sad, very sad.”
Justin Brennan, who is on holiday in London from Dublin, added: “It’s history, it’s a huge landmark, there are plenty of foreign TV people here, you can understand why there’s a big fuss about it.
“But in four years’ time we’ll be back down here again, and saying ‘I was there when you switched it off, and I was there when you switched it back on’.”