The refurbished Elizabeth Tower
I've never seen it looking so good
A few years ago I met an American girl who was very disappointed that one of the iconic sights of London — “Big Ben” — was invisible. It had been covered up for the purpose of refurbishment. I felt sorry for her.
Well, it’s all almost done now, and how grand it looks! I have never seen it looking like this: I have always assumed it was dark grey or black. I hope that girl pays us a return visit.
A couple of things to note. Firstly, “Big Ben” is still invisible — always has been and always will be. That’s because that name refers to the bell. The edifice you can see is known as The Elizabeth Tower, named after the Queen of course.
Secondly, you’ll notice that although the time is correct on the right-hand clock face, it is not so on the left-hand clock face. A policeman gave us an explanation of why that’s the case, but I can’t remember what he said.
Did you know that you can follow Big Ben on Twitter? It’s Big Ben, and if you follow it this is the sort of thing you can expect to see:
I think that’s one of the more profound tweets I’ve seen in a while!
That’s cool! And I didn’t know you were British until now! Super!