what bell ring signifies the new year

[stevenicky]

when big ben rings its bells which bell ring signifies the new year. Is it the first bell ring of the 12 rings or is it the last bell ring

[sddsddean]

The quarter bells play the tune first, then the first BONG on Big Ben is the actual 12 o'clock point. Obviously if it was, say, 3 o'clock, the first of the 3 bongs would be 3 o'clock.

[sddsddean]

Should have said, this is unlike the pips on the radio time signal where 5 pips count down and the start of the last (6th) long pip is the time (12 o'clock or whatever).

[heathfield]

Think about it...

If the last stroke signified the hour, then from 1.00 o'clock through to 12.00 o'clock, the striking mechanism would have to be advanced each hour to allow for the increasing number of bongs.

Much simpler having the first stroke signal each hour!!