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Old 08-18-2014, 09:59 AM   #1
Carruthers
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August 18th 2014: London's Big Ben gets a polish from abseiling cleaners






Quote:
The clock face of the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the famous Big Ben bell, is being cleaned.

The bell will continue to chime, but the hands are frozen at 12 o'clock, while four cleaners abseil down the front of the clock face.

The tower was renamed Elizabeth Tower after the Queen to celebrate her diamond jubilee, Big Ben is actually only the bell but many know the landmark by this name.
BBC Video

Daily Telegraph
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Old 08-18-2014, 10:31 AM   #2
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Such intricate detail on that tower.
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Old 08-18-2014, 10:38 AM   #3
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Sort of a hand job on Big Ben's face.
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Old 08-18-2014, 04:05 PM   #4
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There's a part of my brain that knows that abseiling = rappelling, but somehow every time I see the word I imagine something closer to paragliding. Then I see a picture or some kind of context and remember what it really means. But for a moment I was imagining men in squirrel flight suits swooping around the clock tower with a cloth in their hand, one wipe per pass.
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Old 08-18-2014, 04:25 PM   #5
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♪ ♫Ab-seiling, takes me away♪ ♫
♪ ♫to where I've always heard it...♪ ♫
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Old 08-19-2014, 12:20 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glatt View Post
Such intricate detail on that tower.
Yes it is, and without the banana men for scale, it's hard to realize how big that delicate looking filigree is.
Somebody took a bunch of brass bars/tubes, stroking, beating and sweet talking them into a sculpture. One which when hoisted way the hell up in the air, won't disappear, or look too clunky. Scaling with drawings and models makes it possible, but the vision and skill of the era's mostly uncredited craftsmen is astounding. We're talking 1858, the year Minnesota became a state, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Apparitions at Lourdes, and the first recorded game of Australian rules Football, for reference.

I guess the Brits weren't impressed, at least not as sure, because it was just referred to as the clock tower. After 150 years of pondering they must have decided it was acceptable, because instead of selling it to some rich guy in Arizona, they named it the Elizabeth Tower, for the Queen. Or maybe because they're both attractive, old and doddering.
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Old 08-19-2014, 04:12 AM   #7
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Even with all the safety equipment the contractors are using, the sight of them up there makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Compare and contrast the same operation being undertaken in the 1980s.

Name:  Big Ben 1980.JPG
Views: 1301
Size:  81.1 KB


Incidentally, the Palace of Westminster is in urgent need of restoration and refurbishment work. It's not the sort of project you can do with steel girders and pre-cast concrete sections.

Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster
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Old 08-19-2014, 11:44 AM   #8
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The contrast between the cleaner of the past and those of the present puts this on my list of the top Cellar Images of the Day.

I'd guess the earlier pic was taken by the washer's partner, who brought his camera as well as his bucket and his big brass ones.
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Old 08-19-2014, 11:46 AM   #9
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Or a news photographer as crazy as the cleaners.
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Old 08-19-2014, 12:03 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diaphone Jim View Post
The contrast between the cleaner of the past and those of the present puts this on my list of the top Cellar Images of the Day.

I'd guess the earlier pic was taken by the washer's partner, who brought his camera as well as his bucket and his big brass ones.
If you haven't watched the BBC video above (and below) you'll see some B&W footage of the same operation taking place in 1953. It starts at about the 0.20 mark.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28838218
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Old 08-19-2014, 06:15 PM   #11
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Due to my slow dial-up modem connection, I very seldom attempt to watch video suggestions.
I was interested enough in this thread to give that BBC link a try but did not find one that seemed to fit. There were 7 choices at that address. Is the one referenced one of them?
Thanks.
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Old 08-19-2014, 06:46 PM   #12
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Jim, the 1953 film doesn't show much. They go over the side, being careful not to bump their very large balls.



Then the mandatory, pucker inducing, shot down at them and the ground.



The Pathe film (newsreel), just let people know it was being done, but not how.
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Old 08-19-2014, 10:42 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diaphone Jim View Post
Due to my slow dial-up modem connection, I very seldom attempt to watch video suggestions.
I was interested enough in this thread to give that BBC link a try but did not find one that seemed to fit. There were 7 choices at that address. Is the one referenced one of them?
Thanks.
Jim....

It's the main video above the title 'The Big Ben Clock...'

The start button in the bottom LH corner is sometimes slow to appear.

Bruce, being the all round splendid chap that he is, has provided a couple of screen grabs that will give you a flavour of it.
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Old 08-19-2014, 11:25 PM   #14
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Hey, wait a minute. How did you know I'm chapped?
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Old 08-20-2014, 02:33 PM   #15
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"What did you do yesterday?"

"Oh, hung around, and polished Big Ben."

"Heh-heh, is that what ya call it?"
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