Big Ben’s accuracy for 150 years has been aided by a simple stack of old coins but some of these were replaced in 2009 by a new £5 to mark the 2012 Olympics. Think cogs, wheels, levers, rods, pulleys and a 4m long pendulum that disappears into the floor. Source: The Times Next up is the room that holds the clock mechanism. All the questions and answers you might expect. Here you hear about who designed the tower, who built it, how long it took etc. A tight windy stone staircase with 115 steps take you up to the first room. There are separate tours taking you to Parliament but the “Big Ben” tour is all about the tower itself. Once on the tour you walk through a “secret” tunnel underneath the busy road and appear on the other side. At this point you’re subjected to a variety of security checks, one of which was no bags or cameras, so this blog post has no internal photos of my own. So after contacting my local MP Peter Lilley I received the coveted invite, booked the half day off from work and looked forward to attending (I also requested an invite to watch Prime Minister’s Questions too!) On the day itself you actually meet on the side of the road at Portcullis House, where the MPs have their offices. There’s likely to be a waiting list until at least 2021 before you get another opportunity. Unfortunately it’s not available to overseas visitors though.Īnother “catch” is that the tour is generally fully booked up 6 months in advance and currently it’s closed for 3 years for vital maintenance with the last tour being back in December 2016. I for one like the fact it isn’t a mainstream tourist attraction, with a process and privilege to being “invited” up.
So you can climb the 334 steps to visit Big Ben and walk behind the opal inlay clock faces but only a), if you are a UK resident, and b), if you’ve contacted your local MP, or been invited by a member of the House of Lords first … if you know a friendly Lord that is. It’s not a tourist attraction like the ‘The London Eye’ or ‘Tower of London’ so you can’t simply rock up and buy a ticket. A chance to see the famous bells being struck, that have been heard, but not seen, by millions of people around the world. You’ve seen “Big Ben” hundreds of times but did you know you can visit the top of the tower and see and visit Big Ben for yourself? Big Ben being the largest of the 5 bells of course and not the actual tower itself (The Elizabeth Tower).