The most popular tourist photo opportunity site on our run seems to be Big Ben - this is a Spitfire being towed past in during a parade which we got caught up in. This seems to be a regular hazard of running in London - we recently got kettled in Paliament Square trapped between the Tamil demonstration on one side and a junior charity running race on the other.
It’s 150 years ago since the first tick of the clock (although you’ll always find some smart arse to remind you that Big Ben is actually the bell, which began chiming on July 11, 1859).
Big Ben — the origin of the name is disputed but it may have been named after boxing's English Heavyweight Champion Benjamin Caunt— started tolling a few days later, but within months it cracked again and didn't resume service until 1862.
The chimes, supposedly based on four notes from Handel's "Messiah," ring out every quarter hour from the intricately ornamented belfry. The bongs of Big Ben itself are heard every hour.
You can download the chimes as a ringtone on http://www.bigben.parliament.uk/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART16
Would also recommend the following very clever interactive music video
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