[Bell Historians] Wolverhampton

[Richard Offen]

> could have copied. Presumably the housings must be by Whitechapel.
> 
> I've been caught out by housings such as these before - the middle 
> six at Exeter Cathedral have bearing housings which appear to be by 
> Taylor's, but I know that these bells were still on plain bearings 
> until the early 1990s, when Whitechapel rehung them at the same 
time 
> as they replaced the headstock on the tenor. Presumably they used 
> these types of bearing housings to match the mounting holes, 
although 
> that said the Exeter tenor has ordinary (and very large) SKF 
bearing 
> housings. Have Whitechapel used Taylor-type housings elesewhere? Do 
> they make the housings themselves or buy them from Taylor's?
> 

>From the start of Whitechapel's use of ball bearings (in the early 
1920s), until the early 1970s, Whitchapel bearing housings were very 
distinctive from other company's products, because they used single 
row ball bearings rather than double (which caused much trouble in 
some situations). From about 1970/71 onwards they have used 
standard SKF bearings, in standard housings, on all of their new 
installations. It may be that they bought in Taylor bearings for 
the Exeter job, to make life easier for the bell hanger.

R