[Bell Historians] Tower arch rope grooves

[David Bryant]

> I was on an outing last Saturday & noticed something I'd never seen before. At two separate churches there were tremendous grooves cut deep into thestone either side of the top of the arch between the tower base and the nave (on the tower side).
> They could only have been cut by bell ropes pulled very tight against thestonework, probably over a period of decades. I estimated three separated ropes might have been involved. The ropes obviously fell from the tower above but the ringers had clearly walked out into the nave pulling the ropes with them. WHY??

Possibly they were just being swing-chimed.

David
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