The most fragmented decade of them all: 1970s. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a time of wisdom, it was a time of foolishness, the ’70s started on a rising tide of ’60s’ optimism and modernity. The Home that 2 Built s1e2: Seventies, BBC 2014
The housing boom created a golden age of DIY as people started to do up old houses or repair new ones. ibid.
Make Your Own Furniture with Albert Jackson & David Day. ibid.
This was the era in which things got personal and emotional as a makeover takeover gripped Britain. And a creative tornado was unleashed. The Home that 2 Built s1e4: Nineties
Ikea advert: ‘Chuck out the chintz today’. ibid.
BBC: Changing Rooms … Ground Force … Home Front … The Naked Chef … Escape to the Country … ibid.
Big Ben: the heartbeat of the nation, a symbol of British democracy. Its four great clock-faces have watched over six monarchs, welcomed in twenty-nine prime ministers and survived two world wars, and throughout it all it’s celebrated nearly 160 new years. Big Ben is one of the most photographed buildings in the world. Yet what the cameras don’t see is that it’s falling into disrepair. Now tens of millions of pounds will be spent to bring the clocktower back to its former glory. Big Ben: Saving the World’s Most Famous Clock, Channel 4 2017
The tower has eleven floors that few get to see … even a Victorian prison once used to lock up unruly MPs. ibid.
It looks like Big Ben is tilting … ‘about 260 millimetres out.’ ibid.
Big Ben was cast in 1858 at the Whitechapel Foundry in London. ibid.
The crack is almost as old as the bell. ibid.
‘I have never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower and it is beautiful.’ ibid. Augstus Pugin
There was an explosion of design: British style was lavish, theatrical, outrageous and brilliant. And at the heart of it all was George. Dr Lucy Worsley, Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency 2/3, BBC 2011