TARGET 121219
CLEANING BIG BEN'S FACES
Is that someone crawling across the face of that clock?OK. First of all, let's get some trivia out of the way. This tower is not "Big Ben". If you ask Londoner's, most of them will tell you that "Big Ben" is actually the clock inside this tower. But that would be wrong, too. "Big Ben" is actually the bell that the clock hammer strikes to announce the time. The clock, itself, is called, "The Great Clock", and the tower, after going through a few name changes, is now "the Elizabeth Tower". So, Big Ben is actually the bell in the Elizabeth Tower that gets rung by the mechanism of the Great Clock to announce the time to people all around the world.
And about that "all around the world" thing... Yes, because of the difference in the speed of radio waves and sound, and the fact that the Great Clock is 60 meters (197 feet) off the ground and the speakers in the tower of City Hall in Canberra, Australia are only one story off the ground, The people on the street in Canberra actually do hear Big Ben chime over the City Hall's speakers before anyone standing below the Elizabeth Tower in London do. And, because of that same difference in speed, Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the tower can hear the clock strike 12 noon over their radio, and then hear the last bong right afterwards finally reaching them through the air. So, for them, Big Ben sounds like it strikes 13.
And, since the metal of the Great Clock is affected by temperature changes, it doesn't keep accurate time, so there actually is a person whose job it is to go to the tower three times a day to check the time by an atomic clock and then put a British penny on, or remove it from the clock's pendulum to adjust its speed. Otherwise, it wouldn't keep accurate time.
Enough! Enough! Who cares!!! All trivia aside, it's still "Big Ben", the most famous and most photographed clock landmark in the world. And, as a world landmark, it has to be cared for and kept clean. And that brings us back to the picture, above, of people crawling across the face of the Great Clock. Their location and job of doing that is your remote viewing target for this week.
The cleaning crewAbout every 4 years, the soot of exhause fumes, collected dust, and other grime carried by the famous London "Pea-soup fog" begins to make the clock face look a little dingy. When that happens, a crew is sent up to clean the 312 separate pieces of opal glass on each face, take closeup photos of the hands and framework, and do whatever needs to be done to make the face a pretty one, again.
In order to assure safety for the workers, the glass, and the hands, the hands are moved to the 12 o'clock position while the work is being done. The other three faces still show the correct time and the bell continues to chime correctly.
The glass pieces are fixed into the metal framework of the clock face, much the same as a stained-glass window in a church. It is not thick or rugged, and the workmen must be able to clean it without pressing hard on it, without using it to steady themselves in the wind, and without using it for a foothold. So, they hang from a doubled strand of rope, using only the metal framework to steady themselves and move around.
Any water that must be used will run downwards, carrying dirt with it, so they begin work at the top and move downward, as shown in the following video:
When the work on this face is completed and the workmen are safely away, the hands are moved to show the correct time on this face, as well. Tomorrow, another face will begin to sparkle again.
For those who worked the surrounding location, the Elizabeth Tower is at the end of Westminster bridge that crosses the Themes River right at the Parliament Building.
Seen from the river (Westminster Bridge on right)
Seen from the other side.FEEDBACK MAP
If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:
Wikipedia (source of several pictures and text)
YouTube (source of video - it also has others)
BBC News on-line
The Daily Telegraph
China Daily - world edition