![]() © Sean MacEntee via FlickrThe clock originally had to be hand-wound and took two men five hours for each of the three trains. ![]() In short, the building of Big Ben must have provided London newspapers with headlines and scandal for decades! There were also countless hostilities, disputes and lawsuits between the parties involved. The hands being too heavy for the clock to operate them and the replacements being even heavier!.The bell having to be recast to fit in the wooden crate which raised it up the inside shaft.Big Ben cracking a second time when the same over-heavy hammer continued to be used.The great bell cracking irreparably before it was even hung.An error in the mould resulting in the bell being cast two tons over its intended weight.The death of the clockmaker just one year into the project and his nephew hastily changing his name in order to continue the work. ![]() The completed clock not fitting into the tower it was designed for.However, the building of the clock tower to house Big Ben was fraught with disasters and took over 28 years to complete. Westminster view ©Marco Govel - project was overseen by Edmund Beckett Denison, a famous horologist himself, and Sir George Airy, Astronomer Royal.
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