parliament, it dates from 1099 and was extensively refurbished by richard ii in 1395 and finished off by henry ivs high time it had a bit of attention, starting off with straightening the steps out over there, for example, sorting out the floor which was sinking in one corner and the roof is actually in quite good shape but it was rather dirty so we thought we should get up there and every so often a bit fell off. we used to have fly— pasts, and little pieces of timber would drop off, and that is not really conducive to public health and safety, so to speak. that does sound like quite a challenge. it's a huge logistical challenge. it is always very difficult in a building that has seen intensive use. this is the seat of parliament, the legislator has primacy over everything we do, and we have to consider that. and so you tend to get a backlog of maintenance, because there isn't much time to do it in. one of the most famous parts of the whole site is the elizabeth tower, which contains big ben — a bell, not a clock, as many think. shutterbugs coming here on holiday will have been disappointed for