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Big Ben Minute; News

on BBC Home Service Basic

View in Radio Times

Last Easter Sunday, in place of the usual 'Time, Big Ben' prefacing the nine o'clock news, the Radio Times first printed the words 'Big Ben Minute'. The change recognised a largely unspoken feeling in the hearts of many listeners of the need for a moment's clear pause in the crowded 'ardours and endurances' of the war-time day, during which the mind could halt and regroup its forces. Some listeners have found in this pause an opportunity for rededicating themselves to their share in the nation's great task, others for thinking of absent friends, or for whatever reflection each man's need and mood may suggest. There is no doubt that, for millions of listeners all over the world, the deep slow tones of Big Ben have come to evoke thoughts of greater significance than the mere passing of time and that by them the 'Big Ben Minute' is greatly valued.

BBC Home Service Basic

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BBC Home Service is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 1st September 1939 and ended on the 29th September 1967.

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