[Bell Historians] Heaviest bells on plain bearings

[whrrr1978]

Yes - the installation dates from 1903. Apparently, the bells were 
rehung and augmented in 1897 by M&S, but the ringers of the time were 
not satisfied with the work, so had them completely rehung again
(including a new frame) only five years later, this time by Taylors.

>From memory, all of the bells have had their canons removed.

Arising from the subject of plain bearings, does anyone know 
if "running in" new plain bearings was a regular part of rehanging, 
before ball bearings came into use? Frank White has recounted the tale 
of his predecessors removing the clappers and paying a lad to turn the 
bells over for a day to get them "run in". 

The rehanging of the 4th at Long Ashton on plain bearings a couple of 
years ago showed this might be the case, as the bell dropped noticeably 
after rehanging, to the point that the locals, understandably, were not 
satisfied with the go of the bell. However, after a month or two it 
improved and now goes as well as the other bells.

As brand new plain bearings are a rarity on bells these days, it seems 
this might have been largely forgotten?

Mark

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "David Bryant" <davidbryant at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Interesting photo. I see from Dove that the tenor is Taylor's 1903, 
so I
> assume the headstocks and bearings will date from then? Incidentally, 
are
> the canons off all of them? This information isn't on Dove at present.
> 
> David
>