Sunday 31 May 2009

Big Ben - 150th anniversary


Postmarked Mount Pleasant (in London, the largest automated processing centre in the UK).  Dated 27 May 2009.
London
Big Ben and Hungerford Bridge by night.
LS-091

This couldn't have arrived with better timing because today is the 150th anniversary of the day that the great clock was started.  The original clock tower dated from 1288, and was replaced in 1367. That tower was demolished in its turn and replaced by a sun-dial!  After the fire of 1834, plans were made for a new Palace of Westminster.  The building of the present tower, often referred to as Big Ben, started in 1843.

Strictly speaking, it's the bell that is Big Ben, and its chimes weren't heard until July.  We may have another anniversary then.

4 comments:

  1. Hi
    Thank you for coming by my little blog and for becoming a follower :)
    I love the way you pick your postcards at random it is so much fun to come by every day.
    This one is really nice.
    A great anniversary postcard for Big Ben.
    Have a fabulous week ahead.
    Happy Trails

    ReplyDelete
  2. I heard about that on the news yesterday! Cool! Thanks for sharing this wonderful postcard.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay! Love St Stephen's Tower and Big Ben. Miss the sound of Big Ben actually.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Terry, you're welcome! :)

    @Beth, I hadn't realised the news would travel so far!

    @Alison, I admit I miss seeing Westminster as a whole. I'm going to have to do the tourist bit soon, and go up for the sake of it.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...