[Bell Historians] G&J Simpson rings

[Susan & Christopher Dalton]

>From: Colin Turner <colin at p...>

> One could best describe the sound of early G&J rings (Wolverhampton et
> al) as "sinister".

[I couldn't agree less! To my ears and senses Wimborne bells, e.g., are
lovely and warm. CD]

I have often wondered what the local ringers thought
> the first time they pulled off their new bells, as someone correctly
> identified these were experimental rings.

[Correctly identified? Generally they were no more experimental than any
other rings of bells. CD]

They may well have been bought
> on price alone

[I am sure this is true. CD]

(G & J were often guilty of cutting corners on their
> hangings to get a job)

[I question that. What Cyril Johnston DID do, though, was first to get the
job of rehanging and then later persuade the parish to recast. There are
many instances of this in the period about 1911. CD]
>
> I didn't ring on the old 8 at Bowdon, were they really that bad or did
> they just suffer from having the wrong name on them and being in an
> affluent parish?

[The latter, I am quite sure. And Bowdon at the time wanted a heavier ring.
No doubt the G & J ring suffered - as the present Taylor one does - from
less than satisfactory tower acoustics. CD]