A Man Who Changes the Time on Big Ben

Posted3 months agoActive2 months ago

simmerup

45 points

25 comments

mylondon.newsOtherstory

calmpositive

Debate

20/100

Big BenLondonClock Maintenance

Key topics

Big Ben

London

Clock Maintenance

The story profiles the person responsible for changing the time on Big Ben, sparking interest in the often-overlooked maintenance work behind iconic landmarks, with comments generally appreciative of the behind-the-scenes look.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Very active discussion

First comment

14m

Peak period

168-180h

Avg / period

8.3

Comment distribution25 data points

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Based on 25 loaded comments

Key moments

01Story posted
Oct 26, 2025 at 10:10 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Oct 26, 2025 at 10:23 AM EDT
14m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
21 comments in 168-180h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Nov 3, 2025 at 7:46 AM EST
2 months ago
Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (25 comments)

Showing 25 comments

yawpitch

3 months ago

1 reply

And they say no man can stop the march of time.

scrollop

2 months ago

You're saying this man can stop the march of time? Or of a clock?

sigio

2 months ago

6 replies

Technically, Big Ben is the bell, not the clock, from the article as well:

> A common misconception is referring to the entire tower as Big Ben, when in fact, that's just the name of the bell. Andrew clarified: "So it's The Great Clock inside the Elizabeth Tower that rings Big Ben."

Lio

2 months ago

2 replies

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted, this is completely true.

Big Ben is the bell not the clock.

ivanbakel

2 months ago

1 reply

Probably because it’s unclear what this pedantry about synecdoche contributes to the discussion. Many people (including journalists at the state broadcaster) happily refer to the whole tower as Big Ben, so that is functionally one of its names.

Is the fact that the name originates from a bell, and that the official name for the tower is different, interesting? Maybe. Is it worth “correcting”? No, for the same reason it’s not worth policing people’s use of “Google” to mean “Alphabet”.

dylan604

2 months ago

While I'd typically agree that pedantry is normally rather boring, the pedantry in this case is actually interesting in that the individual properties of the object have their own name and are addressable uniquely. It sounds like they are public as well.

I also reject your premise this is anything similar to referring to Google/Alphabet as interchangeable.

b00ty4breakfast

2 months ago

pars pro toto, dawg.

tolerance

2 months ago

So is “Big Ben" some kind of recursive synecdoche?

embedding-shape

2 months ago

> Technically, Big Ben is the bell, not the clock, from the article as well:

Technically I guess yeah. The tower that used to be called the "Clock Tower", is now called "Elizabeth Tower" yet it's also true that the de facto nickname for the entire tower is "Big Ben", even though technically that is the name of the bell, not the tower itself.

b00ty4breakfast

2 months ago

prescriptivists go home

clickety_clack

2 months ago

Ah, you’ve fallen for the “no true Big Ben” fallacy.

Uehreka

2 months ago

Big Ben is actually the name of the scientist, the bell is more frequently referred to as “The Creature”.

levzettelin

2 months ago

1 reply

His name is Strangeway, he's sporting this preposterous mustache, and he looks after Big Ben. The guy is basically a living meme lol. He must be fun at parties; at least for like 2 minutes haha.

danhau

2 months ago

There‘s no way he is not a cartoon villain.

timthorn

2 months ago

1 reply

And the men who used to clean the clockface: https://www.bbc.co.uk/videos/cneezrj0981o

Certainly scary enough for Hallowe'en.

pimlottc

2 months ago

1 reply

That link is geo-restricted, but I think this is perhaps the same clip on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/ID5cViSga68?si=egKkbNrHw-_UOrmj

3eb7988a1663

2 months ago

2 replies

Stupid me, I assumed there was a tiny clock driving the mechanism that was just geared up to trigger the bigger machinery. That instead looked like a regular clock scaled up to Big Ben size.

Also - those guys are insane. The "safety harness" was a wooden plank chair with some ropes dangling you over the abyss.

Steve44

2 months ago

1 reply

That was a TV presentor from a children's programme called Blue Peter.

If you think that looks dicey, search for the video of when another Blue Peter presenter,John Noakes, cleaned Nelsons Column in Trafalgar Square. Note the overhanging wooden ladder and the entire safety equipment was a pair of flared jeans and platform boots!

He also climbed the mast of HMS Ganges which is possibly even more heart stopping.

timthorn

2 months ago

It's the camera crew that gets me. Peter Duncan has a bucket hanging down to lower his CoG, whereas the cameraman has a hefty shoulder mount making his balance more precarious.

op00to

2 months ago

They really are simply nuts. A harness? No need!

ndr

2 months ago

PSA: The Big Ben tour (not Parliament) includes a climb to the clock room, and all the way up to the bells. Take the 11 a.m. slot and you’ll catch all 12 bongs at noon.

The story of how it was designed and built is full of engineering mischief and process hacking. Very much in the HN spirit. Highly recommended.

subtlesoftware

2 months ago

Little Ben

jasoneckert

2 months ago

The first thought that popped into my mind when reading this article was whether Andrew Strangeway was the Elder who maintained The Internet on Big Ben, because the sitcom "The IT Crowd" has ruined me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDbyYGrswtg

denimnerd42

2 months ago

Time change was last week in London :)

nosrepa

2 months ago

I wonder if he still uses his playdate to check the time.

https://social.panic.com/@playdate/113749875959498684

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ID: 45712017Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:11:26 PM

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