[Bell Historians] Heythrop, Oxon, and T C Lewis

[Richard Offen]

> 
> Incidentally, it turns out that Warners were certainly cutting 
their bells
> everywhere, including in the shoulder to deal with the 
fundamental/prime
> frequency, by 1911 when they launched into "Simpson" tuning. That 
didn't
> stop a lot of their bells still having this frequency extremely 
sharp, it
> must be added (e.g. Somerton, Somerset, and Christ Church Erith).
> 
> C D

According to Wally Spraggett, who was Gillett's (and subsequently 
Whitechapel's) tuner for many years, Warners had a large tuning 
machine built when they thought that they'd get the job of recasting 
Big Ben. The machine was subsequently purchased by Gilletts, who 
used it to tune, amongst others, the bass bells of the carillons at 
the Riverside Church , New York and Chicago University. 

Wally once told me that, because it was used so infrequently, the 
tuning machine became known as "Warner's White Elephant!" The face 
plate was evidently used more often for truing up large clock faces 
than tuning bells!

Incidentally, anyone who met Wally will know that he was not of huge 
stature. His father was even shorter and it is he who frequently 
appeared in Gillett's photos of their larger bells - presumably to 
make them look even bigger!

Richard