The Loughborough Bell Foundry

It turns out that the Conservatives' determination to defend British culture begins and ends with statues.

As the Evening Standard reports:

The government has approved plans to turn the 450-year-old foundry where Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were made into a boutique hotel.

Campaigners have been battling to stop US developer Raycliff converting the Grade II listed Whitechapel Bell Foundry into a 108-bedroom hotel with swimming pool, cafe and artist spaces.

The proposal was given the green light by Tower Hamlets council in 2019. But Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick "called in" the decision to be considered further.

It meant building could not start until the application had been scrutinised by the government department, which has now said work can go ahead.

The good news is that there is still a working bell foundry in England: Taylor's of Loughborough.

You can see it at work in the Historic England video. I took some photos of the buildings myself in 2017.