Rochdale's bells to fill 'silence of the bongs' on BBC at Christmas

The traditional bongs from Big Ben are familiar to BBC Radio 4 listeners. However on Christmas Eve they might sound a little different after the BBC said it will broadcast the chimes from Rochdale Town Hall instead.

Big Ben, the great bell in Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower, has been silenced - apart from national occasions - for over a year due to a multimillion pound four-year renovation project.

This ‘silence of the bongs’ – much criticised when the scaffolding was first erected - has meant that the BBC has had to broadcast a recording of Big Ben’s chimes before its main news programmes on Radio 4 at 6pm and at midnight.

Earlier this year Jake Berry, the Northern Powerhouse minister, came up with his own solution and urged the BBC to broadcast the chimes from the clock above Rochdale Town Hall, which has the same “Westminster chimes” as Big Ben.

Now Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC's director general, has replied - and agreed to broadcast the bongs from Rochdale Town Hall before the news at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

In a letter to Mr Berry sent this week and seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Lord Hall said he "really liked" the idea, adding: "I'm delighted to tell you that Radio 4 will shortly be making a special recording of the Rochdale bells - and that they will feature at a very prominent moment in our schedule, just before the 1800 News on 24 December.

"I'm really pleased you thought to suggest this, and I'm hoping you'll enjoy hearing the chimes from Rochdale ringing out around the country for Christmas Eve."

Mr Berry, who came up with his idea after a visit when he stood at the base of the tower, as the clock struck eleven and the tower bells rang, said he was delighted with the BBC's plans. 

He told The Telegraph: "I applaud the BBC's decision to move from its pre-recorded London centrism and recognise that the chimes that have sounded across Rochdale since the industrial revolution are as worth its top billing at Christmas as Big Ben.

"The Northern Powerhouse is about growing the northern economy, It is about recognising the industrial and cultural contribution that the north of England makes to Great Britain."

Ian Duckworth, 70, a former Conservative mayor of Rochdale who has been campaigning for years for a wider appreciation of Rochdale's bells, said he would toast the town hall's chimes on Radio 4 with a glass of champagne with his wife of 39 years Christine, 60.

He said it was "brilliant news" and praised The Telegraph for drawing attention to the distinctive sound of the bells. "I am really looking forward to them putting Rochdale on the map for all the best reasons. I advise anybody in the country to visit our wonderful town hall," he said.

Construction of Rochdale's Town Hall, described as a Grade 1 listed Gothic masterpiece, began in the mid-1800s and was completed on 20 June 1887, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. 

In August last year Parliamentary authorities announced that the Westminster chimes would fall silent for the next four years during repairs to the Elizabeth Tower to safeguard the future of the 158-year-old clock.

Due to health and safety rules, the 13-ton bell was taken out of action to protect the hearing of construction workers on site prompting an outcry from some MPs.

As part of the £61million project the Great Clock was dismantled and its parts removed for examination and repair. The four dials will be cleaned, the glass repaired, and the hands removed and refurbished