Elphick on Whitechapel

[jim phillips]

>One of the rings he mentions in it has recently come under fire
>on the Yorkshire Ringers' list, with one contributor being rather less
>than complimentary about them.

>What's the view of list members on the practice of matching old bells in
>a ring?

Since the Yorkshire Ringers list is restricted (what are they afraid of?) as
opposed to R-C where everyone is allowed to join in, I assume the tower
under fire is Masham. I understand there was a preservation order on the
Harrison bells in this tower and recasting these bells was not allowed,
neither was it possible to put them in a museum where everyone could have
seen them. I was fascinated by the story of these bells and I know the
founders would have preferred a clean sweep, I therefore kept an open mind
when visiting Masham on a ringing tour. Bearing in mind the background to
the restoration, I found the bells pleasant and interesting when ringing on
them,and listening to this historic ten outside. Perhaps the anonymous
critic could tell us what he would have done taking into account the
Harrison bells had to be retained? At least they are not a boring modern
'off the peg' ten tuned out of existence!

With regard to matching older bells, my early eight bell ringing was at St
Kea, Cornwall where the seventh is a pre-reformation bell. Taylors, when
installing the eight in 1903 made an excellent job and whilst the seventh is
obviously a very old bell when rung on its own, this is not apparent when
the eight are rung. The tenor is tuned slightly flat of G. The
pre-reformation bell thankfully had its cannons cut off (no cannon retaining
headstock here). Why is it necessary to preserve cannons on bells when the
cannons are plain and have no decoration on them?