St Stephen, Rosslyn Hill, Hampstead.

[jim phillips]

I rang on these bells in the fifties and DLC has confirmed what I had
thought. They were made as an octave with two trebles stuck on later, and
it certainly showed. The trebles did not fit in at all! One practice night
a group of the vintage Middlesex ringers turned up ie Sidney Wade,
Glasscock, Millar, Armstrong etc and set themselves up for a course of
Bristol on the back eight. I went outside to listen to some superb ringing
which told me that the back eight were a good octave and with perhaps a bit
of tuning would have made an excellent transplant in a tower that could take
them. I think these bells were in the key of D rather than Csharp.

Were St Mary Abbotts originally an eight? I heard the Middlesex ring the
back eight there at Richard F B Speed's wedding, and with some good ringing
at a measured pace they sounded rather grand.

Another senseless destruction was the Dobson of Downham Market octave at St
George's, Camberwell. With a reasonable band they played a pretty tune
particularly to Stedman triples. It was quite a live church in those days
being very popular for weddings. The canal was still there at that time
with a very humped back bridge beside the church.