The bongs of London’s Big Ben have been running mysteriously fast, clocksmiths have admitted.
The Great Clock that towers over the British Parliament can be out by up to 6 seconds, says ABC. Its keepers admitted that the Big Ben has become ‘a little temperamental’ at the age of 156.
Over the past two weeks, the early bongs have messed up BBC domestic and world radio transmissions that broadcast the hour chimes live.
This has even shocked the Houses of Parliament which had three dedicated clocksmiths trying to rectify the problem.
The error started building up and went slightly unnoticed over a weekend. We don’t know why it happened. You’re talking about a 156-year-old clock; it does have a little fit every now and then. Imagine running your car for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the last 156 years.
–Ian Westworth, clocksmith to BBC Radio
Clocksmiths regulate the mechanism by stacking heavy old one penny coins on the pendulum, or removing them.