The cabbie on the way home the other night overheard us saying that Big Ben is disappointingly small, when it comes down to it. He took offence, and asked if we knew of a bigger clock, telling us (repeatedly) that it’s over nine metres wide. Things were a little tense until I tentatively suggested that maybe if it was called ‘really quite big Ben in a not-so big tower’, people’s expectations might be more realistic, and he agreed.