[Bell Historians] Stayless trebles

[P.W. Gay]

the statement that the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry is not fitted with
stays is not quite correct. The tenor has a stay, on the grounds that a
facility aimed at showing people how church bells work should be able to
demonstrate all the important features. In practice the slider is very rarely
fitted, in order to make the bels easier to handle by those not used to it.
The stay is made of ash, and the slider of steel.
When the original six at Keele (Woodlands) were installed, a stay (ash) and
slider (pendulum) were fitted to the 103lb tenor. The intention was that it
would stop people from ringing the bells too far over the balance. In
practice frquent bumping of the stay was noisy and caused the whole
structure to shake. The first quarter on the bells was rung with the slider
in place.When the bells were augmented, rearrangement of the
frame restricted the space available, and the slider and stay were not
reinstated. 
The recently-installed treble at Whitmore (Staffs)is the same diameter as
the Woodlands tenor, but slightly heavier (1-0-6). Matthew Higby fitted it with an ash
stay and pendulum slider, which works well even when rung by relatively
inexperienced ringers.

Phil Gay