August 18th 2014: London's Big Ben gets a polish from abseiling cleaners

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by glatt

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.