Castlemorton

[Chris Povey]

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Re Bill Hibbert's recent mail about Castlemorton:

Bill's paraphrasing of my words incorrectly conveyed what I said about L&J'=
s tuning at Castlemorton. I wasn't being complimentary about the L&J tuning=
(or about the tuning of the Rudhall bells, either). Both L&J and Rudhall w=
ere equally wayward. Indeed, it's probably just as well the L&J bells weren=
't correct, otherwise the ring may have sounded worse.

The tuning figures are in cents. The tenor's nominal was 871hz (A-18).=20

L&J may have contributed to the waywardness of the Rudhall bells, as HMA re=
cord that the 3rd had been heavily 'lipped' and the 5th had been lightly ed=
ged. The 2nd was untouched.

I haven't the newly-tuned figures for Castlemorton, but Andrew Higson tells=
me he is very pleased with the improvement he has made to the back three b=
ells in particular.=20

Perhaps Bill has further L&J tuning data on which to give us an impression =
about L&J's tuning in general.=20

Castlemorton may have sounded odd, but probably not quite as odd as a ring =
of 6 near me. Toddington, Glos, had a complete ring of 5 by Thomas Rudhall,=
dated 1773, until 1909, when Taylors merely added a new treble in a new up=
per frame. This bell must be Harmonically-tuned, because it and the Rudhall=
-tuned back 5 do not mix. I have never stayed long enough there to find out=
! It takes a long time to get even partially used to this ring. It is very=
hard on the ears, particularly if one is lucky enough to be used to some o=
f Taylors' finest offerings. Have you any tonal analyses of these bells, Da=
vid (Bagley)?

I came across a delightful phrase the other day: 'Life is too short to drin=
k poor wine'. This could apply equally well to ringing poor bells.

Chris Povey

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