Find out how an Eden firm restored Big Ben at an online talk.
Keith Scobie-Youngs, director and co-founder of The Cumbria Clock Company, will talk about his company’s involvement in the major restoration project.
The company cleaned, repaired and restored more than 1,000 components of the Great Clock – including its wheels, pinions, bell-hammers and bearings – at its workshop in Dacre.
It was the first time that the entire mechanism had been removed from its home in the Elizabeth Tower and the project was shrouded in secrecy.
Keith will discuss much of the work including designing and making the temporary clock hands and drive units, removing the clock movement, fitting the original clock hands, and installing the going train and getting it ticking for 2022.
During the four-year project, the company made scores of photos, notes and drawings to help with the complex task of putting the Victorian masterpiece back together, as neither the designer Edmund Beckett Denison nor installer Edward John Dent kept detailed records of how it was constructed.
As a result the company, which specialises in historic turret clocks, has produced the first user manual and set of engineering diagrams of the mechanism for the benefit of future clock keepers.
At the end of the talk, 20 minutes are available for questions.
The event is hosted by the UK Parliament.
Tickets are available at https://ukparliament.seetickets.com/event/people-behind-big-ben/online/2179504?_ga=2.2797235.2089755605.1642243813-104513238.1642243813
