[Bell Historians] Re: Canon retaining headstocks

[David Bryant]

> These pot stocks are fitted to the fourth and fifth bells at Great 
> Ness, Shropshire, where I used to ring (G & J, 1932): the bells are 
> pigs to get up right unless you acquire the knack of checking hard at 
> just the right moment; once up, the clappers are so sluggish you can 
> almost hear them groaning at the thought of the trip across the bell!

Several of the bells at St Giles Norwich have pot stocks - I believe they are intending to replace that on the 7th as it makes the bell so slow-striking and difficult to get up right.

I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems to me that the problem with a lot of bells with canon retaining stocks is that when designing the clapper dynamics little or no allowance has been made for the counterbalancing effect of the canon retaining headstock. The problem is usually that the bell strikes too slowly - i.e. is 'sluggish'.

David



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