No subject

[oakcroft13]

David Cawley:

> ... Swan ... poor example of their founder's
> (Rudhall's) work and that tuning would produce
> no significant improvement !

Three different things about these bells:

1) I was very fond of their sound - as a casual visitor, not as 
someone who had to ring on them every week! They were astonishing, 
especially the tenor, and I was very glad they found a new home. With 
the loss of St Bride's, whatever one's view of their sound, these 
bells are historically very important.

2) (I have told this tale before, but the benefit of advancing age is 
that one can tell stories over and over). When the bells were 
refurbished between the wars, I understand the tenor was actually on 
the tuning machine at Whitechapel, but was taken off untuned because 
there was some discussion over payment of the bill. If anyone can 
give a substantiated version of this tale I'd be glsd to hear it.

3) The then vicar of St Thomas, Houston, Texas heard the bells of St 
Martin in the Fields from Trafalgar Square, I think in the fifties, 
and determined that his church too would one day have ringing bells, 
leading to the installation of the Taylor eight there in 1971.

Bill H